Soulmate Tattoos
by SapphireYaoiCollector
Summary: When Hibari makes a mistake that could ruin everything and Gokudera is the unlucky bastard to get caught in the cross fire.. but his fucking cloud was too important to him to give up on. After all, Gokudera would always love their fights almost as much as the man himself. Cross Posted to Archive of our own!
1. Chapter 1

Gokudera POV

When people are born they are born with the first words their soulmates say to them tattooed across their skin. The handwriting is always the writing of your soulmates and other than your parents the only one who can see your marking is your soulmate. When you first hear them say your words it is believed to spark instant connection, love, respect, devotion beyond compare. Your skin becomes hot, the air around you hums and spins and suddenly everything is right. Its good, and whole and safe. They are made for you and you for them, and so nothing could stand in the way of this connection leading you together. Soulmates are 'newly discovered'. We did not always have them so visible. 100 years ago some forgiving god or misguided stroke of luck allowed for people to first be born with the marks on their skins. This 'first' generation of soulmates paved the way for the world, for the foundation of businesses, families, educational systems. The marks prohibit cheating, stripping away your connection should you ever betray them. However, our luck runs out at 30, when the marks disappear and our bonds shatter. Even with the words across our skin some people never find their soulmate.

Now, at 25 and growing painfully close to the cut off for finding ones soulmate I have all but lost hope of ever meeting them. So far anyone who had called me by my full name 'Gokudera Hayato!' had either been trying to kill me, stalking me, or someone I was trying to kill. When your soulmate has uttered the exact phrase as written on your skin and you have uttered theirs' you will feel instantly drawn to them, completed. The feeling; according to movies, TV, friends and family (and most importantly the Tenths own words-so it must be true!) was one that would ignite instantly, love and powerful loyalty and protection; feeling like you are finally connected to this world and to life.. That was what, according to Tenth, it felt like. So, as I have never felt anything more than foolish hope, rage or deep frustration in those moments, I sincerely doubted that I have run into my fated person. Each year becomes more difficult, and as I already find myself thinking of someone who is not my soulmate way more often than I should be (Like, everyday!) I have started to search for them in my free time. Going to clubs, to bars.. so far all I have found are drunks and people in the same boat.

I shook my head and focused on the hot water pounding into my shoulders as I finished washing, forcing myself not to look at the mark on my arm that always made me feel more depressed than I typically am whenever I allowed myself to look at it. It was only a matter of time… 'Ugh! Stop it already!' I hissed at myself as I climbed out of the shower and got ready for the day. I was supposed to go on a two week long mission with Hibari Kyouya today and the last thing I needed was to be thinking about love when he is around. Its not a secret to me that I have feelings for the ungrateful, rude, pissy chairman who to this day continues to prowl the hallways of nami-chu like a barely contained bull dog. I fell for him hard in middle school right after the battle with the varia. He had told me he would 'bite you to death.' As our first conversation, though, and I had called him a fucker, which caused an explosive argument that seems to be cause for us to either call each other names or ignore one another whenever we are not working. Its helpful for me to be away from him despite my desires telling me otherwise. We are obviously not a pair and as I still have five more years before I either find my soulmate or lose them forever (the thought causes me pain every time.) I could not allow myself to feel the deep want, love and affection that I feel for him. It isn't fair to my soulmate-they are waiting for me to find them, after all! Only if I fail to meet them could I begin to pursue my real feelings for Hibari and, deep down, I am unsure which outcome I would rather experience anymore. It's beginning to become suffocating.

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"You're late, Herbivore.'' Hibari growled at me as soon as I met up with him at Namimori shrine. "Fuck you. It's five minutes.'' I spat out in return as I climbed into his car and he grunted at me. ''For your information, your five minutes has cost us five minutes of travel time, which we will need to ensure we arrive on time for the meeting.'' I rolled my eyes as I tossed my bag over the seat and strapped myself in while he drove away from the shrine and into town. I thought of numerous colorful things to say to the man but was able to control myself. We began talking about our escape plans should something occur during the mission which always leads to us fighting over something, and of course today wasn't any different. We started arguing over who should lead us out in contingency plan number 4. ''I'm the faster runner Herbivore.'' He growled out

''Im the one with the fucking LEPARD! You fucker! Besides, shouldn't the guy who can make dozens of tiny little animals stay behind and leave it to the big boys?'' I countered which earned me a fast one-armed punch that was easily dodged as he couldn't move from his posture behind the wheel. "I will bite you to death.'' He snarled at me, though I did not feel any actual killing intent from him.

''fuck you, you fucking fucker! If we end up in plan four we will be fucked if we don't decide now!"

''Then just let me go out first. We both know your able to calculate strategic maneuvers faster than anyone else. You should be the backup" he said, trying to make me see his reasoning. I stared at the side of his face for a minute. ''Do you think giving me a complement is enough to keep me from kicking ass?''

"No, I said what I know is true. I should lead us out in plan four. Just give it up.''

"Enough! Fine, we figure it out if it happens!" I said in exasperation.

"That is the attitude of someone who will die.'' He said this a little too calmly and I rolled my eyes. "No, it's the attitude of someone who wants to blow you the fuck up!" I hissed out while my fingers ached for a cigarette.

We continued to argue until one of us noticed a bumper sticker proclaiming that 'I'll put it in for 100$" and Hibari had to pull the fucker over on the side of the freeway entrance because he had to 'protect discipline.' In Namimori. Ugh! It took him fifteen minutes to write him a ticket and another ten to beat him senseless for 'being so unsightly.' Though he must have been beating his anger at me out on him, as the man passed out after one hit.

'

'

''Its three-fifty nine Hibari.'' I hissed at him as he drove at the pace of a salted snail down the fucking empty interstate. ''and?'' he prompted when my tone and comment seemed to be unclear to him. ''Che! Its now four o'clock AM! As in, 'in the morning!' which can translate to- why the fuck are you going so slow you fucker!?" I yelled, no longer composed after a good thirty hours beside the insanely handsome and completely unreasonable man. ''And?'' he asked again, not taking his eyes from the road. I glared at the side of his face. ''and? Did you not give me shit for holding us up five fucking minutes?! If you let me behind the wheel we could have been there hours ago! We still have a solid four more to go- if you would fucking drive like a normal person would on a deserted road at four oh-nine AM!" I screeched, my less than good mood from this afternoon having become progressively worse the longer the drive became and the slower he seemed to go!

"Need I remind you about the speed limit, Herbivore?" he asked, perfectly calm- no, he was enjoying this, he would be furious if I said this to him a few years ago, but we had been sent on enough of these long missions to have become pretty fucking good at reading each other. He was smiling, for fucks sake. Even when the trip first started I have always enjoyed fighting with Hibari, and I know he feels the same. We have fallen into a routine of fighting pointlessly on long trips for the hell of it just because we have to do SOMETHING.

''You- your driving this slow because of a fucking speed limit you fucking fucker!? '' He finally looked at me-well, no.. more like he eyed me for half a minute before responding.

''Yes. If you followed traffic regulations the police would not have taken away your drivers' lisence. Twice.'' I flipped him off. ''How the hell did you know about that?! I blew them sky high when they tried last time!" He smiled wider. ''Are you forgetting who runs the police department, Herbivore? It is my duty to set positive examples for the citizens.''

''Ugggggh! Cant you be normal for like, one fucking day?! No- for one fucking hour? And when have you ever been a good example? You kick the asses of weak people every day. How is going around pissed off all the time setting a good example?" I rambled, less angry as I clenched my hands against the cushy seats of his jet black Ferrari until the upholstery began to give and I felt a bit of triumph from the action.

"They know better than to cross me. I believe teaching them how to behave should be considered setting a good example.'' To this, I could only make another unhappy noise. "Besides, I do not mind the view, when going the actual speed limit you can enjoy the scenery, don't you think?'' he asked, both surprising me and pissing me off further as his smile became so wide that it must have hurt his face.

''Are. You. Fucking. With. Me. Hibari?'' I asked, enunciating each word. He smiled wider. ''Hnn I wonder?'' I resisted the urge to kill him. "Fucking Fucker!" I hissed at him, not able to think of a better response at that moment in time. He looked at me again and seemed to think for a moment before responding ''why do you feel the need to call me that every time?'' I smirked as I met his glare. ''It comes natural. You act like a fucking fucker-so I call you on it!" I said while he made an unhappy noise and looked back at the road. "Seriously, cant you move ten miles per hour faster? Just a little?'' I asked, trying a different approach.

"If we both lose our driving privileges we will have to walk home, Herbivore.'' I cussed at him. ''Fuck you! Ten miles wont get you a suspension. I was going 90 miles per hour in a school zone when they took mine last time!" I admitted, more proud of myself for not actually killing the police than ashamed about my actions. "That isn't something to brag about. Losing your license should make you more ashamed.'' He said while rolling his eyes.

I smirked. ''Its not that I don't feel embarrassed by it- but I'm proud I didn't kill your fucking cops for taking it.'' I replied, becoming frustrated at the memory.

''Excuse me? Who was it who blew up three police cars? Do you know how much time and money I had to put into keeping your position secret while maintaining my role? Three Months and 120,000 dollars.'' I shook my head, honestly shocked. "Seriously?" He nodded. ''Who do you think hides our activities?" to this, I just looked away from him and sighed to myself. I looked at the road to keep calm, to stop myself from either kissing him for protecting us all the time or yelling at him for helping me.

I began to calculate my odds of survival should I make my escape from the fucking car before one-or both, of those things happened. If I jumped out at just the right moment….

''What? Not angry anymore? You gave this one up pretty quickly. A few hours ago you went on for much longer about the bad service at that pathetic excuse for a rest stop.'' I sighed. ''Well, I was pissed you wouldn't let me kill the bitch. Anyone who takes over an hour to make and serve a cup of luke -warm chili and half a sandwich should be killed. And not tipped, at all. Yet you went and tipped her twice the bill. Of course I was-and still am, pissed about it.'' I seethed, yet another shitty experience on this fucking trip.

"She was a stupid herbivore, but she still has to eat.'' He answered simply as I lost all my fire power-again. A powerful ache in my chest bloomed to life once again, his looks are impressive but his heart is far more loyal and kind than anyone else's. _If his personality wasn't so shitty when you first talk to him, well ok.. whenever you talk to him, more people would get to see how fucking insanely good he actually is! Thank god he's such an ass. Ugh! Why cant I just be thirty already? I need to kiss him!_ I shook my head from side to side while trying to find some shred of resolve before I did something stupid. What if… ''Hibari.''

''Yes?'' he responded, seeming lost in thought. ''Do you have a soulmate?'' the car actually skidded a few more miles per hour for that question, though only in passing. The odometer returned to its crawling 65mph.

''w-what?'' he asked, sounding more surprised than I had heard him in a very, very long time. ''Your partner, your lover…. You know, a soulmate. You do have words on your body somewhere, right?'' I asked, finishing with my own question.

"Of course I have one, Hibivore. We all do.'' I leaned back against the seat.

"No… I mean, have you found them? Your older than the rest of us. Your already 28 after all..''

''No. I have not found them. Nor do I want to, for that matter.'' I choked on air. ''What?!'' I gasped, shocked. He kept his eyes straight ahead. ''I don't want anyone I have yet to meet. There is someone I desire and I am looking forward to turning 30. Besides if they were a weakling I could die from their stupidity, that is unacceptable.'' He stated this calmly, cautiously. Forgetting-no, giving up on your soulmate before you found them? How would he know what he was missing? The one who was supposed to be there for him? The one person who would support him and love him regardless of time or place? What would that person feel if they were hearing this!? Suddenly, my chest hurt painfully. It was a bone deep ache that shot through me like lightening. I let out a shaky breath. What is that? It felt… wrong.

''How- how can you say that? Wouldn't you at least want to meet them once?'' I asked, trying to distract myself. This pain was different from the normal ache of wanting him and I did not like it!

''I don't.'' ouch. Ouch! I rubbed at my chest and took a few deep breaths. _Why is it so painful? Why is it hurting like this- wrong, its wrong!_ I became frantic, desperate for him to tell me he needed his soulmate, but the pain was too much for me to express the thoughts. Suddenly, the car stopped and he had his hand on my arm. ''Are you alright?'' he asked, concern lacing his tone while his eyes became comically wide. ''Fu-it fucking hurts!'' i said, rubbing at my chest- _though the pain is becoming a bit better now.. _

''Where? Let me see it.'' I looked over in his direction to find him inches from my face. Shit! The want hit me hard, harder than normal. Normally the want was controllable, this time… this time I could barely hold on to my senses.

"Hibari… m-move up a bit. Im ok.'' I whispered, watching as my breath moved his bangs while he loomed over me and placed a hand on my neck to check my pulse. ''Hnn.. it's a bit high, but nothing you should need to be concerned about. Your chest hurts? Where?'' he asked again, seeming to have gone into 'lets check gokudera out no-matter-what-mode.' For some god-forsaken reason.

But at the same time I couldn't fight back and I couldn't tell him not to unbutton my suite shirt and probe my chest. The pain eased with his touch as the want began replacing the agony_. Where the hell had that pain come from?_ "Hibari… don't just touch me as you please.'' I choked out, barely containing a sob. His eyes seemed to laser focus on me for long enough to see something like fire in his eyes. 'Goku-no.. let me check this, Herbivore.'' He ordered before continuing to check me over. I bit the inside of my mouth.

''Are you ok? Your breathing steady again. '' he commented, pulling away and meeting my eyes. ''Do-do me a favor?'' I asked when the thought once again popped into my head. ''What?'' he asked, raising an eyebrow. ''Please… don't renounce them. Even if you don't want them, some people will do anything they can to hold out hope that someone will love them. Don't discount their feelings, alright?'' he looked shocked for several minutes before nodding at me. ''I can see that.''

We sat staring at each other for a few more minutes, until I realized he was waiting for me to tell him how I was feeling…which was pretty fucking horny, to be honest. ''I feel better, thanks.'' I finally managed to get out, watching as he seemed to measure my words before he nodded.

''good.'' Was all he said before he buckled himself again and pulled back onto the highway. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing for the rest of the trip.

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''I thought we would never make it!'' I cried in relief when we pulled into the meeting site in Shibuya six hours later. ''It would have been faster if you hadn't had that weird…pain. Is it better?'' he asked me again. ''Hibari, I am fine. How many times do I have to say it? I don't know what happened!'' I watched as he nodded to me but otherwise he did not speak another word while he parked the car. I pushed myself out of the car and stretched my arms. ''Sweet earth!'' I shouted to no one in particular as I listened to hibari snort in amusement before he got out of the car and rummaged in the trunk. ''check in is in exactly two minutes. You do it while I unload.'' I cussed at him but started walking to the door anyway.

The woman behind the desk was small and cute, almost like a doll. "I'm here to check in for a one week stay.'' I said as I stood at the desk. "Are you Gokudera Hayato?" She asked, which of course caused me to hold my breath while I replied ''I am.'' I said, refusing to feel hope. Her eyes widened a fraction and I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and putting my hand on hers. ''Did I..?" I asked while she started blushing. ''Did I?" she asked in a hopeful tone, but then the moment faded quickly as she and I both suddenly felt empty. No, she isn't mine. Shit! "You said most of them.. Im sorry I touched you.'' I said, embarrassed. ''No-its ok! I'm 29 so, so I just…" She trailed off and stared at her computer. I was too awkward to speak, simply trying to do anything but look her in the eyes. I felt comfort spread through me as someone touched my shoulder, and I instinctively knew it was Hibari.

''Oi, why is it taking so long, Herbivore?'' he asked while sending a glare at the poor woman. ''Shut up- I made a mistake about the words, ok? So it took her longer. Don't blame her.'' Hibari got very still beside me and clutched my shoulder tighter.

She continued to focus on her task without commenting before pulling out keys from the drawer beside her.

''You two are set for your single room, with one king bed.'' She said in a soft voice but then lost her smile quickly as she read the expression on both of our faces. ''Sharing a room?! We are supposed to have adjoined separate rooms, you idiots!" I bellowed, forgetting my mistake and embarrassment as sudden fear hit me in waves.

Hibari tightened his hand on my shoulder to try to reign me in. I took a deep breath. The woman looked at us with both fear and professionalism that, frankly, was commendable considering Hibari's glare and my yelling. ''I apologize, I am happy to give you 20% off your stay, however we do not have any rooms like that currently available.'' I forced myself to keep calm while Hibari sighed next to me and held out his hand. ''The keys, then."

Our room was on the top floor and when we finally made it up the stairs and inside I nearly gasped outright in shock. The bed was huge, white and tucked in against the wall. There was a small-fully functional kitchen with a breakfast bar, a lush couch and two chairs and a huge balcony that overlooked the nearest temple and the fulliage around it. "Its beautiful." I murmuered to myself as I moved to look out of the balcony, my bag long forgotten. I felt his warmth before he officially joined me on the deck. ''It is. Not as beautiful as Namimori, though. Namimori is more lush and powerful.'' I rolled my eyes. ''Cant you just enjoy a moment without thinking about your damn city?" I asked, realizing that we were, in fact, having a moment. He held my eyes for a minute too long before smirking at me. ''I cant help it, it is where I most enjoy being.'' I sighed.. so much for the moment.. Though I guess I shouldn't be having them with him, anyway.

"Hey, Herbivore." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. ''What? Cant you call me by my name, like, one time you fucker?" He smiled ''I will when you stop calling me a fucking fucker." I smiled, too. ''Then I guess we will forever be at an impasse, the words fit you too well for me to stop saying them!" Just then the air between us became heavy and he leaned forward much like he had in the car, he put his hand on my chest. ''W-what?" I stammered out while he held my eyes. ''Are you feeling better? Im still concerned about what happened before…'' I nodded, clearing my throat ''I don't know why it happened, or what it was, but im feeling fine now.'' I said, hoping he would stop showing me sides of himself that would lead me to love him more!

He nodded and then leaned forward to rest his head on my shoulder. ''Please don't stray to far from me… I have an odd feeling.'' I felt my heart pound intensely. ''Okay.. but you have to stick to me, too.'' I could feel him smirk against my neck. ''Your heart is beating so fast.'' He whispered softly. ''S-so? Anyway.. c-can you let go?" I asked stupidly, why the fuck did I stutter!

"Four and a half more years right?" he asked suddenly while he pulled away. ''huh?'' I raised an eyebrow. ''until your thirty, four and a half years, right?" I stood there in surprise and shock and..and hope before nodding slowly. ''Its two for you… yea?'' I asked, my want beating into me. ''Yes. Anyway, we should get going.'' And he turned his back to me and walked away without another word.

'

'

We walked into the bar, closing the door behind us and walked up to the bar tender. ''Gokudera Hayato.'' I said in greeting and he nodded, set down his glass and motioned for another man to come over. ''Gokudera Hayato- show them the way.'' The bar tender barked out, and of course the stupid 'urge' came over me as my words were uttered for the thousandth time.

The man looked us over once before he began to show us the way to the underground tunnel the meeting would be held in. The familliga gathered here were the strongest in Japan; Vongola, Nos, Gillio-tara, Visalto. The meetings held here are the most important information sessions and guarantee either peace for another two years or the potential for a war. Sizing each-other up was natural, and this man seemed to be powerful- not anywhere near powerful enough to stop either of us, but with the bar so full of the men from other familliga and their women it was almost impossible to get a read on them all.

Typically tenth and reborn-san are the ones to attend, but tenth had just married his soulmate, Kyoko-san when the sudden request to have Vongola representatives present for a conference of the four famillia's was received. Reborn stayed behind to manage Vongola while he made Hibari and I go. Our mission? To report back on the meeting and act as tenth's representatives in case of crisis and during any and all negotiations. It was likely that this meeting was set up at this time on purpose, when our boss was effectively out of commission. It was an honor to take tenth's place at the table, and also highly important that we not miss anything. We walked in to find the three other leaders waiting at two large tables and took the last two seats available before the older of the group began the meeting.

Four Hours later:

"So, let me make sure I am understanding you correctly. You are proposing that The Vongola provide you with 124,000,000.00 yen by wire transfer to ensure information is not leaked out?'' Hibari asked, practically chilling the entire room with his aura. He was clearly furious at the leader of the Gillio-tara familliga. The man and at least twenty other people surrounded us as we participated in the meeting between Vongola, Gillio-tara, Nos, and Visalto famillia's.

''Oi,Oi! First your leader did not show himself and now you speak that way? You think you can decline my offer so easily?'' the older man boomed while the Nos and Visalto famillia bosses watched from their respective sides of the tables. I reached into my pocket to feign nonchalance while pulling out a smoke. ''Yes, actually. We are declining.'' I said firmly, confidently.

The other man stood up, shaking now. ''Don't you care about what kind of information I have on me! I have information that could shake the foundation of Vongola and NOS!'' the other don boomed, smacking his fist against the table. I sighed and met the eyes of the female boss of the Nos famillia, second to Vongola in Japan, who seemed just as disinterested as I was in whatever he had to say.

''Then why don't you enlighten me?''

He met my eyes and smirked. The confident fucker. ''I hold the information capable of destroying Vongola and Nos! I have obtained one of the soulmates from a mafioso in each of your groups and sold them back to your people for information. The Nos famillia has multiple stock in big gun companies, many of which are overseas and that is MY territory! Only those of my Gillio-tara famillia can use the gun trades, we all agreed on it! Additionally, Nos has been recently dipping into human trading!" He announced causing Hibari and I to look at the Nos boss. ''Can you prove I involve myself in this business? I, unlike you, have enough resources to sustain my famillia without such foolishness.'' She said this calmly but her eyes blazed with barely contained rage.

He continued as though she had not spoken a word. '' Furthermore, Vongola swore never to touch anything regarding the trading of weapons and yet your man's information tells me that one of the guardians' soulmates is working for overseas trading services!'' Hibari and I glanced at one another before Hibari smirked. "Interesting considering that none of the Vongola guardians have successfully found their soulmate. It would be difficult to prove that we are involved in whatever issue you seem to be having. Based on the amount you are requesting, I would assume someone has begun to steal your merchandise?''

The don nearly hissed at us ''yes- you motherfuckers stole my profits!'' I sighed again. ''is that all? That is the information which will shake Vongola's foundation? Why, because you believed we had stolen money? You think our familliga, the largest in the world; would need your money?'' I spat, annoyed and slightly insulted at the man's insistence.

''Fuck you! So what if you're the biggest? Fine- then how about this? I know that vongola has a top secret contract from the government of Japan! Your working with the cops! If people found out about this, you think others will trust you? Nos, Visalto?" he asked, clearly not backing down. Hibari's knee hit mine, rubbed against me once, then pulled back. ah, he's asking if he should enlighten them of his position. I pushed back twice, hard before he nodded just as the Nos famillia's representative stood up.

"For your information, Don Gillio-tara, the Nos have been in the gun trade far longer than you. While in the last meeting it is true that you and Vongola swore not to involve yourselves in each other's main sources of trade, Nos never made such a promise. Also, we would never steal human life for money! I, the leader of the Nos would have been informed of this.'' The beautiful female with glistening jet black hair and deep green eyes then made eye contact with me. ''Your… Gokudera Hayato?'' she asked, looking impressed. I tried my best not to react. How many people have said my name in the last twenty five years?

''And?'' I prompted, not willing to back down or become distracted from my goal. Her eyes widened, but then she shook her head. ''I heard you were more firey than this. I would have expected you to beat this old coot senseless by now.'' She said, ignoring the increasing volume of the don's curses. I smirked.

'' what can I say? The man bore's me.''

"You two fuckers- thinking to ignore me! I am the sitting head of the Gillio famillia!'' he boomed, making Visalto and Nos flinch slightly. The men they had brought-three each, moved closer to the tables while the don's men-12 in total, began to surround him.

"Enough!" Hibari yelled, causing everyone to stop, postures to relax and don's to sit back down.

''I will commend you for your efforts to extort money from the Vongola, Don Gillio, however I have no intention of providing it to you. The Vongola never accepts or offers bribes, not in this generation, at least. Furthermore, while I have nothing to do with Nos I do not believe that they would be required to follow Vongola's lead and surrender trades to you. We would not have asked that of them, as they are not a famillia under us." He said this calmly, as always, but his tone was seething with rage.

''B-but!''

'Additionally, I will also have to ask that you not make accusations about the Vongola without solid evidence. Have you any proof that we have ties to the police? Aside from someone's word of mouth while trying to save their soulmate? People will do anything to save their mate, can you prove that you were not lied to?'' he continued, piercing the don with his glare. The other man stood his ground for a few more seconds before slinking back into his seat.

"Now, is this meeting over already? Or do you have something else? We would rather not spend a week fighting with you people about this matter.'' He glared at them, making eye contact with each mafioso in the room.

''Of course there is more to discuss. Hibari Kyouya. We, the Visalto familliga are hoping to make a temporary contract with your diamond trades with china while we recoup our losses from the hurricane that rocked most of north Africa.'' The leader of the Visalto familligia spoke professionally, cutting through the tension and seeming to silence the room for several minutes before Hibari smirked and I met the man's eyes. " What happened to your other trades? As I recall your familligia has the monopoly on Africa and the Philippines, but we all keep our top trades to ourselves. Why would you need my familliga to bail you out?'' I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He sighed. "Because we lost too much revenue from our African trades. Now, even with our most lucrative work we are still facing millions in loss. If we can work with Vongola for six months… we would be able to stabilize again, and I would owe you a major favor.'' He said, seeming hopeful for our aid.

''Herbivore, there is no way Vongola will give you access to our intel or sales. We will not risk our information by placing it in enemy hands.'' I raised an eyebrow… why would he say enemy right to his face!

''You- are you saying I should be worried about your familligia?'' I cut in while kicking Hibari under the table.

"No, not at this time. However, we will not risk information being shared outside of our family. We also will not believe that you will repay us for your losses. While we do understand your issue we will not compromise our familliga. Now… if you were to offer up some support in other ways, we may be able to reach a financial agreement.'' I said, meeting his eyes to watch my words sink in.

"What do you want?" he asked, seeming both desperate and uncertain at the same time. ''I want your access to the diamond mines in Africa for one month.'' I said, leaning back in my chair. ''What?! I'm trying to recoup my losses not-'' "You will get double what your looking for.'' I said, cutting him off. All the mafioso now staring at me. ''What?''

I smirked. "Vongola gets your diamonds for one month, all of them; then we show you how to actually sell them correctly so you don't have to beg us like this again. Call it a work share, you give us your diamonds and you can follow one of my men personally while he sells them to a few important-but not vital, Vongola trade contacts. Sound fair?''

I asked, hoping this would work. The Visalto have few mines, but the ones they do have are premium quality.

''You willingly offer me the access to your knowledge and two information sources?'' He asked, seeming doubtful. I smiled. ''Of course. As I said, we are the biggest famillia, we have multiple ways of getting things sold- I see no issue with sharing one or two contacts in exchange for the payout I foresee the month providing us.'' He seemed to consider before nodding and pulling out some paper. We reviewed the agreement, word for word and I signed it. " Do you two feel you can hold both of our sides accountable?'' I asked, looking at Nos. There was something about the woman I felt I could trust.. she met my eyes, hers seeming to blaze before nodding. The Gillio-tara don agreed, as well.

Hibari stood up. ''Then, as it is becoming late, I would like to find out if you have more matters we need to discuss today, or if we could meet again tomorrow for further discussions?'' I pulled my eyes away from her, reading a certain stiffness to his stance that I didn't like. Something was wrong.

The other dons agreed, setting our meeting time for 8pm the following day.

As we left the bar and were a block away from the venue where we had parked his car behind a bumpster the Nos boss suddenly called out to me. ''Gokudera-san!'' we both stopped and turned to meet her as she ran after us alone, her men no where in sight. ''Thank you for earlier. I realize it was not your intention to stand up for me, but I appreciate it all the same.'' I raised an eyebrow. ''Yea.. sure? I don't really remember. What is your name again? I only heard your 'Nos boss' title.'' I asked, trying to be polite. She smiled, extending her hand to me. ''its Shibata Sala.'' I reached for her hand, fake smile still on my face. ''Nice to meet you.'' Then her hand touched mine and she cussed, loudly and painfully before yanking her hand away from me. ''W-why!'' she screeched, tears beginning to stream down her face. ''Uh? What's wrong? Why are you freaking out?!" I screeched back, Hibari putting a hand on my shoulder to calm me which seemed to draw her attention.

''You- Its your fault, Hibari Kyouya! My mate- Give. Him. Back!" she yelled, people now coming out of their homes. ''What? I don't recall stealing your soulmate, or anyone's soulmate for that matter.'' He said matter of fact. I stood there, numb. My mind grasping the situation with growing horror. Her reaction this afternoon when I first spoke to her….. could I have said her word? Could she have mistaken me for her soulmate? ''Yes you did! Your doing it Right. Now!'' she yelled, producing a box. I moved from Hibari's side, trying to figure out what was happening.

''Listen.. Sala, right? I'm sorry for any misunderstanding on my part, but are you perhaps under the impression you are my soulmate?'' I asked, hearing Hibari make a shocked noise behind me.

Her eyes widened. ''You- you didn't feel the pull? When you said my words.. there is no mistaking the pull and just now… the pain that shot through me was clear as day! Your mine and you cheated on me!" she bellowed in obvious distress. ''No! Your wrong, Im sorry but I did not feel any pull from you! None. Not only that, but I wasn't shocked just now, which I would have been if I had done anything like what your claiming.'' I explained, trying to calm her down enough to see reason.

She blinked at me, wiping at her eyes. ''W-what? But… but I- I cant be wrong!'' and with that she grabbed me by my tie and mashed our lips together. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to happen, white hot desire, love and devotion? So many people claim the pull is all powerful and impossible to resist. It feels like your instantly bound… But none of those things happened. Instead I felt sick, so fucking sick I thought I would vomit. I was about to push her off me when I felt Hibari pulling us apart with enough force to make me fall into his arms and her to nearly fall flat on her face.

''He said your mistaken. Leave before I kill you.'' He growled out, so angry that I thought he may blow everything and actually attack her. She looked at me in stunned silence while wiping at her eyes. ''How… but when you said my words..'' I met her eyes while trying to get my stomach to unknot. Thankfully Hibari was good at that, his touch had always soothed me more than anything else ever had but the intense sick feeling remained. This is what it feels like to kiss someone who isn't yours, huh?

I took a deep breath and decided to go for it. ''did you feel sick, too?'' I asked seeming to shock both of them. ''No, I didn't feel sick! How rude! I felt good, right, whole! How could you feel SICK?!" she screeched again, not willing to see reason.

"I love someone else, I don't know why your so insistent but I'm sorry, I'm not your mate.'' I was starting to get dizzy, suddenly my legs didn't feel right at all. ''At least… at least tell me that I said your words.. at least tell me that! Because there is no way I could feel a pull if we didn't say our words.'' She countered, a rational enough thought, to be sure. ''Sort of? Most people say my words in conversations with me. But I didn't feel the pull when you said it.'' I explained, watching as her shoulders fell and she lowered her box weapon. "I see… I'm sorry. I was so sure that…. I'm sorry..'' she said trailing off. I clutched Hibari's shirt, not wanting to let go for even a moment, the dizziness slowly beginning to subside.

"Wait.'' I looked up, Hibari had one arm around me but his face was still hard, cold- he looked resigned and absolutely miserable. ''It's possible that this is my fault. I have specifically been trying to find a way to avoid my soulmate and have taken a few different medications which actively help to remove the power of the word's connecting capabilities.…. If for some reason my proximity to him has caused his reaction to you, I apologize.'' I gaped at him, my heart clenching painfully. ''What! You-your taking something like that?! Why? Why cant you let them have two more fucking years before you lose them forever?!" It felt like my heart was breaking for someone I didn't even know. Suddenly the dizziness and pain became worse. It was so intense and powerful despite his touch that I nearly screamed in agony.

He gave me a look. ''Because I want to be with the person I love no matter what, and I apparently never said their words, so this is my only chance.'' He explained, so sincere that it took all of my self-control not to cry. How can someone be so devoted to a person who isn't their mate?

"Then… then get away from him! If he isn't yours and you may be doing this to us you don't have the right to be anywhere near him!" she screamed, getting her fire back. I looked back at her while trying to make sense of the information. Could she be mine? But.. but I don't find her any more attractive than I did the girl at check in. Could my feelings for Hibari be causing me to reject her? Maybe I was cheating on her emotionally and causing these reactions?

"Im sorry. I don't want you." I whispered, to her and to myself.

"But- then, come to my room tonight. We don't need to touch, just, just stay away from that man long enough for whatever he takes to wear off of you. Please, I'm begging you." Hibari loosened his hold on me, pushing me forward. ''NO! I'm not hers!'' I heard myself call out while I became so sick again that I thought I may pass out. But I felt it bone deep, I knew that she would never be mine and that I wasn't hers.

''I-no! I am not yours, Im sorry, I really am. But Everything in me is screaming that I am NOT your mate. Please let it go. We are fellow mafioso, that is all we will ever be.'' I expected her to fight me on it, to keep going as she had been when her arm started to shine and she cried out. ''No!'' but it was too late, suddenly words shot out of her arm at an alarming speed and disappeared as she collapsed into a ball on the ground, clutching her arm and sobbing. Had-Had I just denounced my soulmate?!

"H-how?.'' Hibari breathed, just as shocked as I was. I yanked my sleeve up to check but the words were still there. I shook my head. ''They are still on my arm.'' I whispered while looking at her as sudden awareness donned on me. ''You- the reason I didn't feel anything and the reason you screamed when you touched me with the arm your words were on… its because YOU are the one cheating on YOUR Mate! Just now- Just now both our words would have vanished if I denounced you, mine are still clear as day!" I hissed, furious. She continued to sob while holding her arm and muttering 'sorry, Jo' over and over.

Hibari wrapped his arm around me again while letting out a deep breath. I automatically leaned against him and grabbed his arm in relief at his touch. Even though the sick feeling was still intense and the pain in my chest had started up again.

Hibari looked at her practically seething in rage ''So you thought to feign a bond? For what end? You knew what would happen didn't you?'' she looked up with pain and anger in her eyes. ''Of course- but I had to! I had no choice in the matter, if I didn't do this my mate would have been killed! They are most likely being hurt right now! And now that our bond isn't there… even with our connection already being in place!" she began to cry again.

I looked at Hibari and put my hand on his where he was touching my waist. "We will talk about the pills later. Right now lets do what we can to figure it all out.'' And he nodded at me, though he was not happy about it. I let go of him and grabbed her arm, pulling her to me before whispering. ''Lets go somewhere to discuss this. If your mate is in danger we will help you.'' She met my eyes and nodded, burring her face into my shoulder.

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;

She clung to me while Hibari drove us to our hotel, partly due to her continuous sobs and partly due to our needing to play along with whatever roose she had been ordered to create for us. Still… touching her was sickening. Was touching someone who isn't your soulmate always this revolting? But I touch Hibari and the Tenth and Takeshi and they do not make me sick. Maybe your mate has to be the same gender as the person you cheat on them with? Ugh!

When had she even been set up? What was my role in this? I had no idea but thinking logically it would have had to be something to do with this meeting. The Gillio-tara don had clearly been misinformed because I didn't sense he was lying in there. So that must have been some rumor going around. Now, if the rumor about her famillia were true and she was trying to use us to cover it up, making me her fake soulmate long enough to figure out how to use us would make sense. Even still… her tears were real. She was clearly in pain and her words were gone; we saw them leave her. She sobbed out another man's name again and again and I didn't get the feeling that we couldn't trust her. No.. it had felt like she was an ally of ours back in the meeting.

"Shibata, are you done touching him yet?" Hibari barked from the drivers' seat. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. ''I want to cling to my fiance' but shes not here anymore! My mate may be dead and ill never know! So if I want a shoulder to cry on let me have it!" she hissed at him with tears still running down her face. He glared at her from the rearview mirror.

I sighed and rested my head against the seat. ''Once we get into the hotel, your letting me go. Your making me physically ill.'' I muttered while my head was pounding and spinning at the same time. _UGH! This sucks!_ She sniffled again ''Sorry. I-I've never touched anyone who had found their mate before.. and not with-with those motives, so-so maybe your body is trying to reject the contact.''

"Huh?" I and Hibari echoed eachother. Both of us confused by her statement ''W-what? You… don't tell me you met them and don't know it?! I know latent soulmates and those who have yet to say words sometimes don't know but… if you have this strong a reaction to me its either the curse eating at you for touching someone who has a mate-which wouldn't make sense given the situation, or you have a mate and your body is pissed that your touching someone else.'' She said as she cleared her throat and began scrubbing at her face. She then proceeded to rest her head on my shoulder. I met Hibari's eyes instinctively to find that he was still looking at me. I gulped.

"As I was doing research into soulmates there are a few things I found along the way. First, lets say I believe you when you say your mate had been taken. You would have known if he was dead, even if the pair is gone. Some soulmates are able to meet after the 30 year mark if the bond is strong enough. I also found out that soulmates whose bond is particularity strong will die at the same time regardless of the circumstance so if your bond is completed and you are still living that could indicate that he is most likely alive as well." She sat up, pushing away from me and nearly choking herself on her seatbelt in her haste. ''A-Are you certain?!" hope flashed in her eyes. Ah, yes, she was telling the truth.

"Yes, I am. I wouldn't lie about this primarily because that fool places a lot of importance in this area." I flipped him off and rolled my eyes which earned me a smirk.

"I also know that you can denounce a soulmate but both mate's words will disappear which was how we knew you are not his and how this was your punishment from the soulmate connection you share. Sometimes when connections are powerful the body may physically project illness to another to limit contact. Has anyone ever told you they were sick from you touching them before? I think that would make the most sense given the situation" I continued to hold eye contact with him as he spoke. My stomach still hurting like hell even after she let me go.

''No. Never, though I had never tried to do what I was planning until today, so maybe the feeling impacted it? Either way, if theres even a slim chance she is alive I'll do anything to get her back!'' she said, redirecting him to his earlier comment.

"I wouldn't know however if my information is correct you would be dead right now if your bond is strong enough to withstand the loss of the base of the connections.'' She went silent at this, clearly unsure if they had a strong enough bond to share death. Thankfully, she was so deep in thought that she did not touch me again for the remainder of the drive.

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.

When we had safely entered our room and closed the blinds she sat down in the seating area with Hibari. I had made it ten steps into the room before I landed on the bed and then propped myself up on his bag so I could at least listen. He did not touch me when we got out of the car or walked up the steps, but I felt his eyes on me and Shibata, who had to walk next to me arm in arm in case we were followed. The fatigue was getting to me and the sick feeling had started to get worse. Now the pit of my stomach ached pathetically and my chest and head pounded at a never ending pace. What the fuck!

"You good?" He asked me when he was finished securing the room and sitting across from Shibata. I gave him a small smile and forced my voice to be normal. ''Tired. I can hear just fine.'' He held my gaze a moment longer before turning back to her.

''So, tell us what happened. You are the head of the Nos correct? How on earth did someone steal your mate from you?" he asked and I could almost hear his unspoken comment. 'how could you degrade yourself? How could you be so weak? Have you no pride?' but he kept it to himself, so I didn't bother to comment.

"No… I'm not. My soulmate is. We share a rare bonding as we are both females. I am the mate of the Nos famillia boss, Nos-Alazana Jo." I sat up quickly making my head spin and I nearly lost my dinner.

"you- how were you able to act properly in that meeting? How could they have gotten your mate when she is the boss of the Nos? What the hell?!" I cursed.

She met my eyes 'We are always together so I have attended meetings with her before. Because none of you would know my face I had to give it a shot. She only took over the family a year ago so there was no one there who could identify me as being a fake. As for the kidnapping… she was investigating the missing mates of one of our low ranking members when she was surprised from behind. She is incredibly powerful but they had gotten to me and used me as a weapon against her. She had no choice but to stand down and then they ordered me to come to this meeting and get close to Gokudera Hayato, who they were positive would be attending.'' I opened my mouth in surprise, but Hibari was the first to speak.

"Do you know what they wanted from him? If they knew he was going to come here they must have helped set this up- and must also be aware that our boss is on his honeymoon half-way across the globe." She nodded.

"Jo- she told me about it, that Vongola's tenth was gone for a month to celebrate his wedding to his mate. We even bought a gift for him for the return reception. I think Gillio-tara and Visalto also knew about it ahead of time. So, whoever it is.. if they were on that guest list..'' she trailed off. Hibari grimaced. In other words, whoever this is was someone who we trusted enough to go to that party.

"And you didn't see anything that would remind you of who? The face of her kidnapper?'' I asked from across the room while still recovering strength. She shook her head. ''They kept me blindfolded. I do know that they took us to a bunker.. something that was unusually cold and high up; not underground. I recall seeing bright blue sky above me when I was there and had been able to peek out from under my blindfold a tiny bit.'' I sighed. Of course.

"So.. they ordered you to become his mate during this meeting? That's all?'' Hibari asked again, to be as clear as possible. She nodded again. ''Yes. I was ordered; 'Find Gokudera Hayato at the meeting for the famillia next week, then act as a go between for us as a spy. They wanted the location of your hideout and the blueprints to a new mini mall being built with the tenth's assistance. They also wanted the location of a safe. He said that if I was the mate of a guardian I would be entitled to these things.'' I groaned. The mall? Tenth was using it as our connecting point. It is the place for members of the family to go if danger arose. Plus it was also where one of the vaults was being concealed... One of seven to be exact. Each guardian and then the tenth had one of them and each one is containing a different top-secret file and enough money, jewels and lists of family member locations to destroy us. How the fuck did these bastards even know? The only two people in the family who knew all the locations of each vault from each guardian. Tenth and myself as I am helping strategize on their whereabouts with each family member!

Hibari watched me, seeming to think about our options. ''Hey, Herbivore.'' He called, motioning for me to sit next to him. I sighed but felt intensely in need of his touch as always, so I forced myself to move. I stood and settled myself beside him while the splitting headache lessened. ''Sala-san, keep pretending to be doing your job. Act as his mate- but try not to touch him again. Keep up the act as though you two were not touching on purpose.. can you do that? We will lend you support in exchange for information as needed and your full support in the meeting-both physical and strategically. Sound fair?'' he asked, both protective and clear minded.

I instinctively put my hand on his knee. My head finally stopped spinning as he looked at me. He was protecting me and that took my mind away from of the pain. As I touched him his face began to soften.

"Are- are you sure your not mates?" Sala asked suddenly causing us both to look at her. ''What?" I asked, shocked. "Well… even if you didn't say words…like you said before, Hibari-san some latent mates build a bond that is too strong, strong enough to negate words' connective abilities." Hibari and I were silent while she continued. '' His touch is helping the sickness, right Gokudera-san? The way you looked at him just now is like Jo looked at me. I dont know how to tell though.. Not without the words being said.. But the vibe between the two of you is just so mate-like..'' She trailed off and I couldn't stop myself from entertaining the idea.

"Sala, can you go back to your hotel? If you think it is safe? You have been with us long enough that I would be surprised if they had doubts. As we share a room it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume we could not spend the night together.'' I asked, trying to be alone with him to talk about this.

She nodded with a wistful look on her face. ''Of course. The men with me will worry about me anyway. They know what is happening, after all.'' And with that she stood and Hibari offered to walk her out which took him only a few minutes. I sat there in silence taking slow breaths and forcing myself to calm down. Could we be..?

He was locking the door behind her when I spoke ''Stop taking the suppressants, Hibari.'' I whispered, my heart suddenly painful from the intensity of the emotions, the hope and the want and the love I'd felt all these years making more and more sense. '' Ok'' He said, voice barely controlled. I know his voice, he's forcing himself to act calm. I felt genuine fear, though, because he had been taking them to get rid of a bond-_our bond? For someone else. I nearly began to sob.. if that were the case then we might as well never try to find out!_

I was trying to get myself together while combatting the overwhelming sickness when he sat beside me again and pulled me against him. I looked at him in instant relief while raising an eyebrow. ''What?'' I asked, confused by the sudden contact. Granted he was touching me more than normal during this trip but that was because I was sick..

He looked at me and gave me a real smile. ''Interesting night.'' I smiled back and then leaned against him ''Understatement of the fucking century.'' I said as I reached for the remote to the TV. We turned it on and I flipped through channels while trying to distract myself from the pain that still rocked through me with every breath. Even his touch isn't getting rid of it completely. Fuck.

I finally stopped trying to find anything to watch and put the remote down. I was about to ask who he thought should sleep on the couch-and who Would be, when he spoke in a surprisingly thick voice

"Do you want us to be?" he whispered as his hand moved to rest on my waist again. I let out a sigh and took a moment before responding. ''I-I wouldn't hate it.'' I said, my fingers beginning to tremble as he let out a deep breath. ''I wouldn't hate it, either… No, to be honest with you I would be happy about it.'' And suddenly time stopped. I couldn't process his words or the way my heart beat so hard I thought it may explode. ''Does my touch help the sickness?'' I smiled a tight smile at him and nodded before putting my head on his chest. ''It helps. I feel like shit, like my mind is all fuzzy and im about to hurl! But its lessening now.. it was so bad when you weren't touching me.'' He moved his other hand up and placed it on my head, running his fingers though my hair as I took another deep breath and tried to control the sickness. His fingers felt so good in my hair that I closed my eyes in bliss for a few minutes. '' Hibari.. can you..'' I couldn't get the words out. _If he was mine.. if we really are mates then-then I want more of his touch. So much more of it._

'' are you sure? You could lose them if this is wrong.'' He asked as his eyes met mine and they fucking burned into me. His eyes were so soft and so much more intense than I've ever seen them before…and I just.. just knew I needed his touch. I moved before I could think about it further and put my hand on his cheek. His eyes seemed to heat up even more intensely as he bridged the gap between our lips and I was hit with such intense need that I clutched at his shirt. He deepened the kiss almost instantly and tangled his fingers into my hair.

When we pulled back for much needed air he whispered ''You good?''

"Fuck… yes.'' I said while my voice betrayed me and he kissed me again so gently that I felt the tears fall and wrapped my arms around his neck.

We kissed for hours. His hands in my hair while I let my fingers roam over his back. It was gentle, and needy, and desperately sweet. The way his tongue moved with mine.. it was so fucking good.

''More.'' He said against my lips and I knew.. knew he wanted me under him, laid out and gasping. ''more, please.'' He whispered again as the tremble in his voice undid me. ''I-If im.. if im not… you better fucking take responsibility. Ok?'' I said while pulling back enough to see his face. He smirked at me before resting his hands over my heart. ''I promise.'' And with that he gently pushed me away before standing up and offering me his hand. I took it instantly and he pulled me to him as he lead us to the bed and pushed me down into the mattress. '' tell me if you need me to stop. If you don't want whatever we do.. tell me.'' He rasped out as need overtook his tone and I trembled as I realized what he meant, that he would stop no matter what we were doing or how far we were getting.. That if I needed him too, he would listen. That he would never touch me to hurt me and I couldn't hold back a wave of desperation and hope and terror that he may not be mine. ''I want us. I want this so fucking badly.'' I whispered in response and he smiled at me ''I want an us, too. I want you, I don't care about our soulmates- I desperately want you. More than anything.'' As I gasped out in shock and need at his words he was leaning forward and kissing me again and his hands began working on the buttons of the suite shirt as I moaned into our kiss. Soon he was roaming his hands along my chest and slowly getting me out of my shirt.

"ah-fuck.'' I moaned as his lips moved from mine to suck at my neck and his hands moved along my bare chest. ''You ok?'' he asked against my skin. ''yes. You?'' I asked, feeling a smile pull at his lips ''I cant tell you how amazing this feels.'' And I let out a shuddering breath as he gently pushed his hand past my belt. I hadn't even realized he had undone it. ''you too.'' I whispered as he slowly pushed my pants down and nodded at me. He leaned up as I unzipped him and he kicked them off before our lips met again and again and moans filled the room as we worked each other over. ''More.'' was all he seemed to say, the words shaky and needy. I twined my fingers through his hair as I began to lose my senses and he grabbed both of our members and pressed them together skin on skin before gently thrusting his hips against the space between my entrance and member. ''AH!'' I moaned pathetically, the sound echoing in the silent room. ''Your still good?'' he whispered and my heart nearly broke at the love in his voice, the fact that he was so fucking hard and desperate and yet.. ''Im good. Hurry.'' I whimpered as he began a painfully slow pace, his thrusts rubbing that space just right before gliding over my member was so fucking fantastic that I had to keep myself in reality by sucking on his neck and clawing my fingertips into his skin. Mine. Mine. Mine. Was the only thought in my head. The desire to mark him everywhere too intense to ignore or deny. I buried my face against his chest. ''So good. Your so damn good.'' He panted the words against the skin of my neck and then thrust our members together in shorter, quicker thrusts and I made a pathetic noise against his skin again. ''put your legs around my waist.'' He whispered, his tone so far gone I was surprised he had the ability to speak. I did as requested and wrapped my legs around his back, locking my ankles around him as he slid down just a little further between my legs and thrust us together again. The new position giving him more room to move us against each other. He could enter me so easily.. if only we were sure... ''More, Hibari, more.'' I begged as he kissed me so deeply I could hardly breathe and thrust his hips just right over and over again.

It was too much, too caring and gentle and yet powerfully intense and raw and felt so fucking good that I became nothing more than the person he was touching. His. All I wanted to be was the person he would always be touching, forever, always. Desperate need hit the back of my mind and the pit of my stomach and all I could do was call out a pathetic ''Please.'' As I tried to hold on to make this last. He pulled our faces apart and held my eyes with a look that would undo me-that would forever be embedded in my mind. Hibari Kyouya was crying, moving against me in pleasure and want and such fierce love that I could feel his hope and his desperation radiating off of him. ''Love you.'' He whispered as I ran my hands along his cheeks. ''Love.. ah!.. you. Hurry!'' I replied pathetically as he kissed me again and my hands played with his hair while he gripped my hips and with one last, powerful thrust we came together.

When we had come down from the pleasure he kissed me again and again as I wrapped myself around him and let him slowly explore me however he wanted. He ran his hands up and down my sides, pulled me into his arms as we laid on our sides. He was so soft and gentle in his touches that I shuddered into his kisses and he panted into my mouth. We kissed for the majority of the night, all hands and soft kisses and a burning want in my chest to be with him forever.

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	2. Chapter 2

''I love you.'' He whispered into my ear as I laid naked in his arms. I had been asleep when the words woke me up and I looked into his eyes blurrily. ''Say it when im awake you fucker.'' He let out a bark of laughter that had me grinning. ''I love you too.'' I said, replying to his confession as his arms tightened around me. ''I have chosen to believe that I am your soulmate, but even if I am not I will never hand you over to anyone. I wanted to destroy my bond because I don't want anyone but you.'' I felt my chest clinch at his words and buried my face in his chest as my eyes betrayed me. His hands moved to my hair and he gently ran his fingers through it in comfort while I shook in his arms and admitted how pathetically in love I have been. ' Why couldn't you have just said my words?''

"They don't matter, your mine. No one will take you from me. Not for anything.'' I nodded against his chest and prayed he was right, that we could avoid those people we were supposed to be with.. that we were so fucking latent because of those pills that the second he stopped them things would change..

''I wont let you leave. So you better be prepared you fucker.''

He snorted. ''Some pillow talk you ended with just now. Real romantic and that's coming from me.'' I laughed and tightened my arms around him. ''Fuck you- you wouldn't know romance if it bit you on the ass.''

He made an amused noise before continuing the mock argument.

'' Oh? Is that a challenge?''

I smirked ''As if! You would probably be at a loss and then take me to some fancy restaurant like in the movies.. and then you'd hold my hand while we walked and people would all look at us in shock.'' I said, the thought of such a scene comical.

''I hope you were joking. That sounds horrible.'' He replied, his hands still running through my hair.

''If I wasn't would you do it for me? Huh? Get all dressed up and walk around like some love sick fool?'' I asked before I even realized what I was saying.

''If you wanted that.. I would do it. But I would genuinely hate every minute of it.'' I smiled before letting out a laugh. ''Look at you trying to get along! I think I might faint.'' I said sarcastically. He squeezed me tighter and tugged on my hair. ''I always try to make you happy. It isn't my fault you're a hot headed Italian.'' I rolled my eyes and was about to continue when my phone alarm went off and he pushed the button for me without letting go of me in his arms.

"We have to go soon, don't we?'' I asked and he slowly moved away from me to grab his cellphone. Sure enough, it was past 12pm. "Yes, it looks like it. I will get the displeasure of seeing you act as someone else's soulmate while trying not to kill the woman for the next eight hours.'' I snorted

''And I will have the time of my fucking life trying not to vomit on her-or you, or the other Don's." He smiled at me in amusement as we slowly got out of the bed and grabbed our clothing. "Shower?" he asked as I was beginning to reach for the tissues we hadn't thought of last night. "Together?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. ''Of course.''

I rolled my eyes but moved to his side anyway. "30 minutes until we have to go.'' Was all I said before walking into the bathroom.

I stood in front of the shower as I felt hands slowly run along my hips while I turned on the water and stepped inside. I still couldn't believe this was happening. That he loved me enough to break his bond, that he had touched me with such powerful need, that we had just declared our love for one another and were standing pressed together in a shower. I felt his body flush against mine. Every detail we had explored last night now vividly felt as he wrapped his arms around me and his hands began to run along my stomach to help wash away the evidence of our night together. I touched his hands and leaned back. ''How will we tell if we're soulmates or not?'' I asked, letting him continue to wash me, his hands running over my arms and chest.

''Hn.. Well, I will have to do more research on latent soulmates, for one. We could try guessing our words, or reading the words, but I don't see anything on you, so that isn't a very good sign.'' He said, frowning. I grimaced. Soulmates are the only ones aside from blood relations who can see your words. ''But that's after you've spoken them, right?'' I asked as he pushed me forward so the water could wash the soap away. ''Yes. That is true. Perhaps once I get those pills out of my system, I could have more accuracy in saying your words. Maybe they also impacted your ability to say mine?''

My chest hurt at the mention of those pills and I shivered. ''Are you alright? Is there an after effect?'' he asked as his eyes took on a concerned look. Between the sickness and the chest pains and the fact that the one who is touched is more likely to experience the physical or mental pain after; or during, the act of touching someone other than their soulmate, I could see why he was so concerned. In very extreme cases some people have died from the infidelity.

''No I don't think so. I hate that you were taking pills like that. What if you were killing our bond?'' He pushed his head against mine. ''All I can do I tell you how sorry I am. I have been taking them since middle school, when I first found out that soulmates' can bond to the extent of dying together. I found this out long before I had met you, and I never wanted anyone to have that power over me. However, my words never disappeared even when I began taking the pills. Then, when I did meet you I knew that I didn't want a soulmate- I wanted them even less, because all I could think about was you. All I wanted was you and as we never said each others words I knew that I could at least take those pills as a token effort. I will not touch them again.''

I moved away from him and started soaping up my hands. ''Why are you not yelling? I deserve it, frankly I thought you would try to kill me over it.'' He asked, his voice settling between amusement and concern. ''Fuck you. I'm going to wash you, then we are getting dressed and I am going to go play house with a beautiful-and yet completely unappealing woman. I cant even get pissed at you right now. That is how upset I am, Hibari. I get it- logically I get where you were coming from, but I hate that you did this! Your fucking lucky I don't have any bombs with me right now!'' I seethed with frustration by the end before I turned around and ran my hands along his abs_. Fuck he's so toned.. this should be fucking illegal! This bastard!_

''If I thought there was any chance that you were my soulmate I would never have taken them. I would have stopped. I can at least promise you that.'' I met his eyes and he reached for the shampoo. ''I want to believe that. I want to believe what your saying.'' I said quietly but I knew he could hear me and that he could read between the lines. Because I am not sure I can believe those words yet.

He made an unhappy sound in the back of his throat ''All I can do is never take them again.''

I moved my hands to his hips and smirked at the reaction. A sharp intake of breath, a twitch. ''Are you starting something, or are you being an ass?'' he said in an amused tone while softly lathering my hair. ''Both. But mostly being an ass because you suck.'' He smiled at me and kissed me. It was longing and needy and loving. But he pulled away before we could get hard, and we returned to washing in a companionable silence.

Once we had climbed out of the shower and had gotten dressed I grabbed my cell to see three missed calls. Two were from Sala's number and the other was from Reborn-san's. I showed them to Hibari. ''I'll call that woman back. You talk to the baby.'' I shot him a look. ''I have to spend time with her today, Hibari. Even if you don't like it.'' He glared at her number like it was personally offensive to him, which it probably was. ''I don't have to like it.'' Was all he said before punching in her number before I could stop him. I rolled my eyes before I grabbed his phone and called Reborn-san.

''Oi, Gokudera. Why didn't you report in? If this was Tsuna he would have Ryohei or Yamamoto there by now to save you.'' I rolled my eyes. ''don't roll your eyes at me, Gokudera.''

''What-how could you… No, Never mind. I apologize. We ran into an issue that will require us to change the plans and worked most of the night." I stood up a little straighter to get myself into the mode of reporting.

''What do you mean? Explain.''

It took me twenty minutes to explain what happened in the meeting yesterday and what we found out that night. (sparing the details about Hibari and I because I have no fucking clue how to talk about THAT,) and that we planned to meet with her today to try and play like their plan worked in order to get the upper hand.

''I see. Ok, that sounds like a solid plan Gokudera. However, I want you and Hibari to keep together, you are not to leave each other's sides until this is over. I have a bad feeling about this.. I will also go through the lists of families coming to Tsuna's reception and see if anyone has any red flags or if they were recent additions to the list.'' I sighed in relief.

''Thank you for your help, Reborn-san! We can also look into anyone you may find suspicious, if you would like?'' I offered even though we didn't have time for it.

"No need. I'll handle it. Report back via phone call and text me if anything changes. If I don't hear either your or Hibari's voice every eight hours or if anything sounds suspicious I will have backup on the way.''

"Thank you very much, Reborn-san. I will end the call now.'' I said while waiting for him to hang up on me like usual.

"Gokudera Hayato. I want to reiterate myself: You are not to leave Hibari's Side. If you blow the meeting we deal with it, but my intuition is that you two shouldn't be more than a few feet from each other at any given time. Understand me?" I raised an eyebrow but agreed before hanging up.

Once I did I felt Hibari's hand on my shoulder and I relaxed without realizing I had needed to. ''That ugly woman will be at a small bar in the next city until we meet up. We will leave her car there and drive to the bar together tonight and one of her men will take her home.'' I nodded and closed my eyes. What Reborn-san said running through my head. ''don't leave me.'' I found myself saying for no real reason other than that it was instinctive and suddenly I had the feeling that I may not be the only target.

"What happened with the baby? You don't say such things in that tone unless something is wrong.'' I smiled at him. ''He will look into the situation via the invites we sent out and try to find something. He said he got a bad feeling about this whole thing and that we should keep close. I've been having those odd pains in my chest and now this woman is showing up.. I am going to be sicker everyday we have to keep it up.'' I tried to come off as reasonable and not concerned for him because no one on this planet would take concern for their wellbeing as an insult like Hibari Kyouya could. He seemed to read between the lines. ''Are you afraid because of the soulmate thing? If I am yours I will never denounce you.'' I smiled. Thankfully he took it the way I was hoping he would. ''Thank you. I know.'' He held my gaze seeming to find my trust hard to believe after I purposefully didn't say I trusted him earlier. He held my gaze but he didn't comment.

:

:

"Hibari." I said in frustration as I watched the BIKE pass us. ''What?'' He asked while I continued to look out of the window. ''A Bicyclist passed us just now.'' I pointed to the bike, whose rider seemed to be finding the sluggish speed of this hot rod car very funny.

"If this was Namimori he would be given a ticket for reckless endangerment to self and others. Bicyclist's are involved in an average of 38.4 percent of all traffic accidents for their confidence that the law is going to be after the driver. This man should be taken to the jail for the evening and left with the real bikers.'' I actually laughed despite my anger. ''Oh god! Do you have any idea of how much of a 'discipline' fanatic you are?! Here I am pissed the hell off that this bastard passed you because of your shitty driving when you go off on statistics!"

He smiled and suddenly the car was moving incredibly fast, causing us to pass the bicyclist and cutting him off. I stared at him in shock. The man had taken this kick ass car from 30mph to 90mph in less than a minute. He smirked at me ''For the record, I am the fastest driver of any officer in Namimori during pursuit driving. I simply follow the traffic laws.'' Then he winked at me in a clear bid to show off before Hibari got out of the car and drew a tonfa. ''OI! Are you fucking with me right now! Get back in the car!" I yelled, but it was already too late.

Hibari was on him and the fight was so funny that I shook the car with my laughter. The fool was screaming at Hibari without concern until he raised the tonfa. Then the fool actually thought he could take Hibari Kyouya out by tossing his bike at him and ran into the forest. Of course, my intense laughter at his surprise didn't help the situation in the slightest. Hibari was about to go into the woods, while walking as though he owned the fucking planet when I yelled at him. ''Wait for me!" and jumped out of the car in sudden panic. I ripped the keys from the ignition and hit the button before joining him. _We have to stick together!_

''Ooh? I thought you found this 'discipline' fanatic's plight amusing?'' He commented as I caught up with him and he started walking into the woods. I felt sudden dread and put a hand on his arm. ''Don't.'' I all but commanded, which of course didn't go over very well. He sent me a glare

''What do you think your doing? I don't plan on allowing the fool to escape.'' I held his gaze. ''Its.. not right. I don't feel that going in there is a good idea.'' He held my eyes for another minute before pulling me along with him into the woods. ''Oi fucker! Did you not hear what I just said!" I screeched at him in outrage.

''He threw a bike at me, for that he will be bitten to death.'' I continued to argue even though it was pointless when he got this pissed off.

"Che- Fine. But if something happens I'm blaming you!'' He snorted. ''I will protect sir chicken shit from the scary forest monsters.'' I literally growled at him. ''You want a fight you fucking fucker?" I asked, raising a bomb. ''Are you sure? You may pee yourself like the fool I'm going to bite to death.'' I lit a cigarette. '' Oh? Maybe I'll shove this where the sun don't shine and you wont need to wonder about soulmates-or MATING, again? Hmm?'' That seemed to get him to shut up and give me a look. '' You wont be able to get near me with that thing before you start a forest fire… But I would rather not risk your second point.'' I smirked. This new 'thing' between us would be useful, wouldn't it?

"Your still going to get that idiot bike-thrower, aren't you?''

''He tried to hit me with his bike and he will pay.'' He stated in renewed rage. I sighed and took his arm. ''At least stick with me. You promised remember? I don't fucking believe your being such a stubborn motherfucker about this.''

He looked at my hand around his arm and smiled before going back to the argument.

''Maybe I should hit you with a bike and we can see how happy you would be?''

''Oh fuck you! Don't make me pull the dynamite out again because I swear to god I will use it!"

He snorted in amusement ''Ok, Sir chicken shit. Shall we have a game of 'who can beat the bicyclist the longest?' Winner gets to drive?''

I smirked at his tone and flipped him off with my free hand. ''Oi! Didn't I just fucking tell you not to call me that you fucking fuck! Though… the driving is tempting..'' I trailed off while thinking about our thirty eight hour drive back home… ''Fine but as soon as we kill him wer-'' just then a large explosion shook the ground in front of us and three men suddenly surrounded us. One of them carried the biker and tossed his corpse at our feet ''A gift to show our intention for this to remain a peaceful discussion.'' The smallest of the men said smugly as they emerged from the forest. I suddenly felt sick. Something was very very wrong with these people.. it was like when Sala had kissed me only ten times worse. The nausea hit me so hard I had to grip Hibari's arm as hard as I could to keep myself together. I felt him tense when I did so and knew it took all of his concentration and anger to stop himself from checking on me. We cant risk showing weakness in whatever shit we just landed in.

''Who are you? I will have you know that he was Mine, which means I am the only one who is allowed to bite him to death.'' Hibari growled out. Thankfully he didn't mention that he would have arrested the man. ''I apologize. He seemed to be escaping while you two argued. My name is Vick and I am with the Tara familliga. It is nice to meet you Hibari Kyouya, Gokudera Hayato.'' I eyed him in sudden remembrance. Don Gillio-tara was the head of two families who had joined forces three generations ago. ''The Tara, as in Gillio-tara?'' I asked, which made the man smile. ''Its good you caught on so quickly. It will make this easier. Currently, Don Gillio-tara is at the same meeting as you are. The Tara familligia would like to take him out and would like to ask for your assistance in this matter.'' Hibari spoke without pause. ''Not interested. Perhaps you should initiate your own coups?''

''Ah, see there's an issue. I would rather not get into the detail's but I can promise you that Vongola would get a large payout.'' He continued as though he hadn't just been shot down. He eyed my hand around Hibari's arm and frowned. ''Oh? I saw you arguing and then driving off with the Nos boss, Sala yesterday evening. Do you cheat on your soulmate often?'' he asked while raising an eyebrow.

If he knows about that then.. is the Tara responsible? What the fuck is he up to!?

I decided to play along. ''Actually, I prefer men. There's something soo satisfying about it. Of course, because he's male I can still have my mate too. Want to give it a go with me?'' I sent him what I hoped was a playful smile and the man actually took a step back. ''No. Thank you. I am surprised that Hibari Kyouya and Gokudera Hayato are gay. What would Sala say if she heard of this? Isn't that hicky on your neck from her? I happened to have seen her leaving your hotel..'' Ah, its definitely him. This fucker!

Hibari cut in this time. " Oh, I'm more interested in…. team activities. Three people can enjoy quite a bit. Should I ever feel up to it I'll give you a call" I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from rolling on the ground laughing. Hibari is the most protective, loyal, possessive son-of-a-bitch anyone could ever meet. He would never touch anyone randomly and would never let me touch anyone else, either. His personality, his loyalty- he would never stoop to such a thing. So the thought of him participating in a three way! The men before us seemed to believe him though, because they glanced wearily around themselves and took a few more steps back.

"Are we done here, or would you like to discuss our sexual habits some more?'' I asked after a minute. The small man-Vick, cleared his throat. 'It seems you are…open. I was hoping to convince you to help us by threatening you into it, but it seems that may not work here.'' He mused before continuing.

''We hate Gilio with a burning passion. The original Don of the two familligia were from the first generation of soulmates, you see? And so they had no choice but to unite the family. However, the Gillio's have treated us like shit for the last two generations-fifty nine long years of shit. We plan to end it and remake the familligia. We can pay handsomely. If that isn't enough I can assist you in any matter you may need taken care of.'' He offered clearly trying to get our assistance in whatever he was actually planning, because no way in fucking hell was he really just after the don, I wasn't born yesterday!

I took a deep breath as quickly as I could and began to run my options in my head.

attack them and take out the larger two. Little man has an odd vibe to him and may be trouble. They could have a hell of a lot of men by the car or in the forest.. an ambush was likely.

2\. Play along and agree by making up something we want handled in return

3\. Toss the bomb still in my hand up and set off a forest fire to force them out. Then book it for the car and go.

''One moment. We need to discuss.'' Hibari said as he took a few steps away from the group with his 'I own the world' walk. ''Of course.'' Vick said, seeming confident.

He leaned into me in a way that clearly made the other men uneasy, one even clearing his throat and I smirked. ''Should we take this on, Smoke'n Bomb?'' he said with a smirk and I squeezed his arm. Ah, he must be thinking of something similar. ''Only if you let me have a go at the car.. Though the mist could have hidden it.'' I said while leaning in. ''Oh? You mean the rain they are predicting?'' I nodded. ''Of course. What else?''

''Sure. May as well take the opportunity.'' He said while nodding at me before we turned around.

''well what have you decided?'' Vick asked hopefully. "We will take this on if you kill one of our men." Hibari said with a sadistic smile

The other man laughed heartily. ''Of course! It's a deal. Who are we talking about?'' he asked while he and Hibari shook hands.

''Rokudo Mukuro. The mist guardian of Vongola.'' Hibari said in the seething tone he has developed for the sole purpose of degrading Rukudo Mukuro.

''You want us to kill one of your own guardians?'' he asked in shock. ''Yes, he pisses me off and I would like to see him dead. Do you think you can handle him?'' Hibari asked, a smirk playing across his lips.

The other man gulped at the challenge before nodding to himself. ''Yes, I believe something can be arranged.'' He agreed with a sudden confidence that caused me only a moment of pause. ''Then once you kill him we will help you.'' I said confidently.

''Oh no- I want your assistance first. Don Gillio is already exposed.'' I rolled my eyes.

''Who do you think we blame for the killing? We take Mukuro out now before the Tenth comes to kick your ass.''

He seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding at his companions. ''Then we could expect that the Tenth Vongola would go after Gillio-tara's Don?'' I could feel the desire in the other man's voice and it sickened me. There was a hell of a lot more going on here than a feud between families. ''Of course. Sawada will go after anyone who hurts his guardians, after all.'' Hibari responded instantly, not needing to think about it.

''If you can ensure the Vongola Guardians and Tenth will come to my aid we are willing to kill the mist first. Do you know his location?'' he asked, seeming far too confident. It radiated off him and gave me a horrific sick feeling that even Hibari's touch couldn't shake off- and that was saying something.

I nearly collapsed on the spot.

''In a theme park would be my first guess. Once you find him we will discuss our cooperation, won't we Smoke'n Bomb?'' Hibari asked while sending me a cocky smile

I pulled the bomb to my mouth, hit my lit cig and the fast-burning wick got to the wire in a matter of seconds before I tossed it into the forest and at least twenty trees crumbled to the ground. The resulting smoke and flames became a mist hiding us while we ran-hand in hand through the forest and back to the car. The horrible screaming came from all directions and the sound of Vick's laughing followed us but did not catch up.

Once we reached his car I hit the button and we slid in before I turned the keys in the ignition and took off.

''Don't get a ticket- that is the last thing we need right now.'' He commented angerly from the passenger seat. ''I was fucking right so shut the fuck up and let me drive!'' I hissed at him in frustrated fury.

"I will not deny that you were right this time, though I still should have killed that man myself.'' I rolled my eyes as I maneuvered through traffic. I took the freeway and moved in and out of lanes before taking two exits short of the one we planned to take while Hibari sent Sala two short texts with my cellphone.

**Ambushed. Ok and on our way. **

**Tackers likely. Be ready to fake it.**

She replied instantly:

**Shit. Got it. Still same bar?**

We replied as well.

**Yes. Look like you met us for fun. **

Sala:

**Got it.**

I pulled over in the first pizza joint I found and parked behind it before we claimed out and wordlessly started looking for tracking devices. I found two under the car and Hibari found three in the engine and sound system. We took it apart piece by piece to find what we needed. After thirty-five minutes the entire car had been inspected. "Should we keep one?'' I asked as we got back into the car.

''Hm.. we could see if Spanner could rewire it for us.'' I nodded and took one before tossing the rest in the trash.

''Ok. Lets pick up Sala.'' I said while settling into the drivers seat.

He let out an unhappy noise but leaned back in the passenger seat and closed his eyes. ''I'm already letting an unlicensed driver take over my car. Might as well.''

''Fucking Fucker. You know I know how to drive!" I said while pulling back onto the freeway at an actual pace.

He gripped his seat belt while I merged and let out a growl of frustration '' Did you actually pass the semi-truck at 120mph? Are you that insane?'' he growled out at me as I got into the turning lane for our exit. ''Fuck you. I got us here in Ten Minutes. Not forty like you would have!"

"Yes, by almost killing us.'' He said as his hands ran along his seat and he cursed at me. ''Did you destroy my upholstery? I will have you know that this car is more expensive than your entire apartment complex.''

I snorted. ''You were being an ass, so I got some payback.''

''I should have left you in the woods.'' He said under his breath as I ran the second red light.

"No, we shouldn't have gone into the fucking woods in the first place!'' I yelled at him in remembered fury. ''How could you be so fucking stupid?"

"I was pissed off. It's already happened so fighting over who was right wont change this.'' He said, suddenly trying to be the reasonable one!

''You-Ugh! I don't know why I put up with your sorry ass!'' I continued while slamming on the breaks to let a pedestrian cross the street.

''Are you seriously trying to kill me?'' he asked as he rubbed at his chest in some dramatic show of whiplash.

''Don't tempt me, you fucker.'' I hissed at him and started driving again.

''Can I drive my own car now?''

''No! You should have let me drive sooner!''

He sighed. ''I'll let you drive home without complaint if you turn back now. The mission is already compromised.'' I met his eyes for a second before looking at the road again.

''We cant do that, and you know it.'' I said, suddenly shaky at the remembered sickness that would no doubt occur the second I stepped out of the car.

He became silent as we got to the bar and I pulled in. I put the tracker in the ripped upholstery and handed over the keys begrudgingly. I was about to walk away when he looked around the lot and then pulled me in for a quick kiss.

When we pulled away he held my eyes. ''Im sorry. I wish I wasn't so focused on that bike throwing bastard, I could have listened, or at least noticed what was going on.''

I sighed. "I know. I'm still not happy with you, but that doesn't mean anything that happens or is said is anything more than a act.'' I whispered and he nodded. '' Please don't get too close.. I will be with you the entire time.'' I smirked. ''of course you will be, you fucker. Like hell your leaving my side again.'' He gave me a small smile before we began walking into the bar.

;

;

;

The next five hours were hell. Sala clung to me the second she saw me in the bar and because of the intentional placement of the tracker in Hibari's car she had to keep her hand on mine for the entirety of the drive-which I was pleased to say was only 26 minutes because Hibari was so pissed off with the display that he gunned it.

Sala and I sat side by side in the diner we had stopped at and my entire body felt like I was about to die, the world was hot and spinning and I thought I was going to lose it completely when Hibari squeezed into our side of the booth. His presence making all three of us into sardines until Sala finally noticed that the reason he was doing this was more than just jealousy. (though there was a Hell of a lot of that.)

I had started to lose my vision by the time the woman let go of me in the relative safety of the diner and sat on the other side of the table. Hibari gripped my hand with all his strength and took slow, deep breaths beside me in an effort to get me to breath properly. He also found a way to press our legs together to try to use his presence to hold off the sickness that was threatening to take me over.

''I'm so sorry. I didn't notice…'' she trailed off when half an hour later I still couldn't breathe or speak normally. I didn't even bother responding. Hibari rubbed soothing circles on my hand.

''Sala. Tonight we are coming to your room.'' He said, too pissy and too concerned to worry about being nice or explaining the sudden thought. Of course, I know him well enough to know he had planned to keep us there for show. Sala didn't, apparently, because she began to pale ''why? I mean.. don't get me wrong, I know you need a place to crash but..'' she trailed off and Hibari actually scoffed at her. ''Nothing will go in a way you don't want it to. You want him happy, right?'' he asked, choosing his words just in case we were followed. She seemed to catch on quickly.

''Yes, that is true. I still should have been the one to sit with him, though. Soulmates should be able to ease pain, after all. You were injured correct?'' she asked, which let me talk about the forest. I forced out the words even though it hurt like a bitch.

_I have to make a show of this too._

"Its all this guy's fault. He got pissed off about something and we ended up going into the forest and ran right into someone trying to get us to take out their boss. We made a deal with them to get the fuck out.. then we..w-e blew up the woods to get..out.''I wheezed out the rest of the words pathetically and both of them shot me concerned looks.

''Then.. if you ran into such dangerous people I would be more than happy to entertain you two. Should we share a room?'' she asked quickly before adding ''If you got injured im sure Hibari-san could look you over in the bathroom before we go.'' Which I deeply apricated as she was giving us some time to be alone for me to-ideally, recuperate before getting back into the car. Hibari had text her about their comments in the woods, too, so she was aware then when we now had a bigger game to play and thankfully, because we made it sound like some fucked up three-way it wasn't as difficult to get to touch him for comfort here and there.

''Sure, we will take you up on that, wont we?'' he asked and I nodded. ''Yes, of course. Im sorry you didn't get to stay last night.'' I said, though of course all I wanted was to be as far from her as possible._ I really don't think I can do this after all._

''I think that I may need to..look at my injuries in the bathroom after all.'' I said shakily and they both stopped the aimless chatter they had started on…what were they saying?

''Are you alright? Let me check you for any additional wounds.'' Hibari said and stood with me. Sala waved at us as we walked into the bathroom. ''Take your time. I need to make a call anyway.''

When we entered the bathroom Hibari locked the door and then pulled me into a tight hug, his fingers softly stroking my hair. ''Its alright. I love you. You'll be ok.'' He whispered against my neck.

I was shaking, my body wouldn't calm down and I couldn't think anymore. ''I… It hurts. I don't think I can play along.. but we cant back out.. this is shit.'' I said while he held me as close as he could and continued to stroke my hair. ''This reaction is even more powerful than before isn't it?'' he asked me in a calming tone that soothed the panic.

''Its worse.'' I grunted out while he made a face that spoke volumes and his arm tightened around me as he spoke again, his next words shook me to my core. ''I love you. I belong to you and only you.'' I let out a breath as some of the shaking in my legs finally stopped. ''I choose you, over my soulmate, over anyone else. You are mine, always. I will not hand you over to her or anyone else. I will never not choose you.'' I buried my head against his chest and took deep lung-fulls of his scent. While he continued to whisper reassuringly in my ear. Whispers I never thought he was capable of saying, words and promises to stay with me for the rest of his life. Promising me forever, he might as well have been proposing before he started kissing me deeply and gently touching my hair, my neck, my sides. He pushed his knee against my groin and swallowed my moan.

''Please.'' I whimpered and he held my eyes for a moment before kissing me again and undoing my belt before my pants hit the floor and he dropped to his knees before me. ''Wait.. you don't have to do-!'' I bit into my lip and gripped the edge of the sink as he took me into his mouth and started humming. His hands played with my entrance and I sobbed in pleasure when I felt his finger enter and he began moving his head faster.

I panted and gripped his hair as he continued sucking, licking, humming, swallowing around me and another finger pushed inside me.

_It feels so fucking good!_ ''Nhgg. Pull- cumming!'' I tried to warn him but he just took as much of me as he could into his mouth and gripped my hips to let me thrust forward while I came hard into his mouth. I watched as he swallowed everything before wiping the back of his mouth with his hand and meeting my eyes.

''You ok? Is the sick feeling subsiding at all?" he asked softly while rubbing my hips gently. ''Yes.. a little. More.'' I begged and he smirked. ''More of what?'' I shot him a glare and then whimpered pathetically when he pushed a third finger inside me and slowly started to thrust them. 'ah.- of t-that.'' I whimpered again despite how hard I was biting into my lip. He held my eyes and smiled ''fingers and my mouth… or me?'' he asked softly, clearly unsure if he should ask me for sex given the situation and I groaned as sudden need and love and pride filled me. _Fuck time and place, hes clearly rock hard.. and he wants me, he chose me!_

''You.. I don't care what happens-I don't care about my mate, I want you. So..'' I whispered and his eyes widened before he pulled his fingers out and undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor as he stood up. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me into a deep kiss, gently stroking my hips before grabbing the back of my thighs as he lifted me up as gently as possible. I could feel his member against me, the insane hardness of his want, the loving way he touched me despite it.

''Legs.. put them around me so I can hold you better.'' He whispered in a voice filled with barely contained emotions. I nodded and followed his direction by wrapping my legs around him and buried my face against his shoulder. ''Are you sure.. here? You deserve so much better, so much more than this...'' he whispered and I held on tighter. ''place.. not important anymore. You can make it up to me later. I need you right now, that's all I want.'' I whispered in reply before he let out a shuddering breath and slowly-gently, pushed inside me and buried himself as deeply as he could get. I bit into his neck to try and muffle the pathetic noise of painful pleasure that shot through me and he grunted in a clear effort to do the same.

''You.. your so tight. Are you alright? Is this hurting you? I.. can pull out. Tell me.'' he asked against my ear while holding me tightly to keep me securely in his arms. Somehow I felt safe, _I've never felt so safe before_. I slowly moved to look him in the eyes, to clearly say the words I'd been dying to say all day ''I love you, you fucking fucker.'' Because I couldn't not call him that, it was like a nickname for him- Suddenly, the second I said those words the air got hot, heavy, and I just knew it. He is mine, those were his words, and he replied with a voice so broken I thought he was crying

'' I love you so much, Gokudera Hayato.'' And then it was complete, and my body filled with even more love and loyalty and need and hope than I had experienced for him before. The air changed colors, my vision became stronger, sharper, than before. I could feel the emotions he was feeling, loyalty, safety, protection, devotion, need, and crippling love hit me as our emotions melded together. ''You really are mine.'' I whispered in intense bliss. He pushed his forehead against mine. ''I'm yours. Thank god your mine, your really mine'' He whispered gently before slowly thrusting and kissing me deeply. I dug my fingers into his hair. ''Yours, always yours.'' I replied in between kisses and he pushed me against the wall for better leverage before thrusting just a little harder, a little faster each time. ''So-so good.'' Was all I could say while our lips met again and again and we swallowed each others' moans. It was so good, and so fucking gentle that it broke me, changed me in a way I couldn't have thought possible. Everything sang, like a live wire between us as our bodies connected. Then, all to soon, we came hard and fast while clinging to each other to remain upright. He began to grind inside me, pulling the last of our pleasure out of us slowly while we came together for the second time and worked me through my organism with the soft thrust of his hips.

When we finished he held me to him while still buried inside me ''Hayato, Im so sorry-I cant even tell you how sorry I am for ever taking those pills. If I didn't I could have had so much more time with you.'' His eyes burned into mine with such love and devotion and intense regret that I shivered.

''Yea, you could have. But now we are together and we know, we fucking know. So we just have to make sure that we have a hell of a lot of time to be together from now on.''

We held each other for a few more minutes before someone knocked on the door and brought us back to reality. ''Are you two ok in here? Its been fifteen minutes. Not that I mind, at all.. but..'' of course it had to be Sala of all people. Hibari growled loud enough for her to hear him. ''I'm taking care of my mate, go back to the table and we will be there when im ready to put up with you touching him again.''

I let out a laugh against his neck while she took a deep breath and then mumbled ''oh god.. im so sorry. I get it, I get whats happening now.. I'll do my best.. so I'll be waiting.'' And then she walked quickly away from the door. ''She's going to try not to touch you more than necessary, at least.'' He said in an amused tone. "I guess I should get down, shouldn't I?'' I said after a moment. I feel so full, how am I getting it out..?

"Of course, tonight I'm making love to you properly, though.'' He said while smirking and slowly pulling out of me. I felt his finger press into my entrance as soon as his dick was out of me and slowly opened me again while sudden deep embarrassment took over and I let out a pathetic noise of shock as I felt his cum begin to trickle out of me. ''Its alright. You are mine to care for, so let me do this.'' He said lovingly and I nodded before hiding my face. ''Im sorry I cant accept it the way a woman could.'' I said as even more embarrassment shook me. ''Never apologize, your perfect for me.'' I snorted at the romantic comment as he pushed his fingers deeper and hit my sweet spot which caused me to moan pathetically. ''fu-fucker. Your doing that on purpose.'' I said while he rubbed against that spot with his fingers. ''I am. It feels good while everything comes out, right? Your not allowed to feel pain here, so let yourself feel it.'' I dug my fingers into his hair and bit into his neck again. He let out a hiss but otherwise didn't comment as I rocked with pleasurable pain while his fingers played with me and cleaned me at the same time. I came again before the last of his cum was out of me. Then he slowly set me down; my feet touching the tile floor as he grabbed paper towels and got them wet. I did the same and we wiped each other clean to the best of our abilities given the situation.

Once we were fully dressed again he held my gaze ''I love you, Gokudera Hayato.'' I made a happy sound in the back of my throat as the bond tugged at us tightly. ''I love you, you fucking fucker… god, I cant believe those are your words. What the hell?'' I couldn't help but laugh at them while I traced the now visible words along his arm. He smirked ''And I cant believe that 'Gokudera Hayato' are yours. As least mine were not said every day.'' I rolled my eyes and he kissed me again before smoothing my hair back for me.

''As much as I hate this, should we get back out there, Hayato?'' He asked with a grim expression and I nodded before we walked out of the bathroom and fell into a fake argument about my not being injured and his being paranoid as we slid into the booth again.

:

:

:

We sat in the car, Sala and I in the back seat and Hibari behind the wheel again. He drove nearly twenty miles over the speed limit, though, so that was positive if nothing else. '' They wanted you to kill don Gillio-tara? Then if the tara are responsible for taking my mate we need to inform the don and go kill them.'' She seethed with rage and a powerful blood lust that was almost impressive. ''If we go now the cover will be blown.'' I said from beside her. She was holding my hand, but had stayed far away from me without it being obvious. We had ditched the tracker at the diner by putting it into someone elses car before taking off a few hours ago but we had to make sure we played along for the time being. I felt sick as fuck, but my body was calmer after our bond finally happened and even though it was very new I could feel every inch of him. Not just the feeling of his member buried inside me which still lingered and stung, but the bone deep ache of his presence. The feeling of his slightly chilled fingers, the mild rage at the situation, the coolness of the breeze against his skin. I could feel everything he felt emotionally and psychically. This is the type of completed bond that is the strongest among them all. The 'life bond' to think that I would share it with him of all people… its insane. I knew he felt all of me, too, which made it even more embarrassing.

"Hayato, if your head hurts I have some pain killers in my jacket.'' I smiled at him and started looking through the jacket pockets to locate them. We had swapped jackets on the way out of the bathroom and now his scent enveloped me. Thankfully, that also helped ease some of the sickness. Once I find them I had to have sala open it for me because my grip was too weak with the headache and nausea before I took three pills and prayed it would stop soon. ''How did you… don't tell me that not only were you latent mates but also 'life bonded' too? How is that possible?'' she asked, but we both just smiled at each other. ''No idea, but we are." I said, too tired and with too much of a headache to say much more than that.

"More importantly, we just said our words, so I expect that you not touch more than his hand unless its life or death. Do you understand?" Hibari added with an intense anger burning in his eyes. She nodded. ''Of course. If we were not still unsure about people watching I would let go right now. I have no interest in your mate-not before and not now.'' He nodded at her before his eyes returned to the road.

"As for your mate, if we act now we could compromise her and anyone else they may have captured. Vick gave off a killing vibe that we have not faced in a very long time, and I do not want my-now psychically compromised mate, or anyone else's mates to be harmed. We also need to use this to find out what their real motives are. The Vongola Vaults are powerful weapons against us and only those at the top know about them. They are so critical that only one person knows where each vault is at any given time. Yet he knew about them and about our involvement in a project which I have personally kept hidden. If someone is of the level to obtain that information, disarm multiple people while protecting their mates, ambush us in the woods without so much as a trace of their presence before hand… They are far too cunning to take on without a plan. For now, we wait and play the game.'' He explained while she huffed in exasperated defeat. "Fine, I do see your point and I am going to keep my end of the bargain here, but I miss my mate-my love for her isn't lost simply because our words left us. So I'm finding it hard to simply sit still here!"

Hibari nodded while I began to speak. "I can understand that, Sala. If it comes down to it we already decided to lend you our support. In the meeting, though, we need to look just as disconnected from one another as we did yesterday. Can you do that?''

"Of course I can. Who do you two think I am? I may be weaker than you, but I am not so weak that I cannot protect myself.'' We both nodded as we pulled up to the bar and slowly climbed out of the car.

:

:

The bouncer lead us back into the lower level of the bar, the sounds slowly fading away once again while the other mafiosos waited for our arrival. Sala walked in front of us and he looked at me before the doors opened and tapped his forehead. _Ah, my headache._ ''I'll live.'' I whispered and he nodded before we joined the meeting.

When we entered the room and took our seats don Gillio-tara was going off on a waitress for being 'too stupid to get a drink right you bitch!' and I was tempted to help Vick out after all and end the fucker. Hibari cleared his throat and sat down beside me while Sala settled herself at the next table along side the Visalto don and her men. Gillio-tara's don turned to glare at us. ''Nice of you three to join us! I hear that you were meeting with Nos last night after the meeting. Should the rest of us know anything?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice considering his anger moments ago.

"She was under the impression I knew her soulmate, we had an argument and then drove her back to her hotel. Nothing much to share. '' I said while smiling at the old fucker. He raised an eyebrow but seemed to think about his words before commenting. " Hmm.. Well, I had heard the word soulmate a few times, for a moment I thought she was yours and I'd have to worry about a strong new alliance from Vongola and Nos!" he exclaimed in an loud voice, seeming to find his assumption hilarious.

Hibari rolled his eyes. ''Are we starting the meeting or not? I for one would like to know why this meeting was called when it is common knowledge among our allied familligas- yourselves included, that our boss is out for the next month. What was the urgency that brought this meeting about, exactly? I do not feel that last nights meeting was so urgent as to require an immediate response."

The room seemed to freeze at the sudden question, causing both Hibari and I to get a sickening feeling in the pits of our stomachs and Gillio-tara to shake his head in confusion. ''What? My call was from someone under Vongola who said something urgent was happening and The tenth needed this meeting to take place earlier than planned. Said that Vongola tenth had to change his plans for his own honeymoon because it was so important. Since Vongola has never done such a thing before, I canceled my other plans and rushed the hell out here. That was when I heard about the trading.'' I felt shock hit me before the sudden realization donned on me that perhaps it was bigger than getting to the Vongola Vaults and killing a don. To gather all of these dons-leaders of their families, here on short notice… "What about you, Visalto?" Sala asked, her voice tight.

"I was told that Nos had been having an issue which required the meeting to be moved up. I thought I may as well take the opportunity to ask for assistance from Vongola while I was here. I would not have come for such a matter. In fact I had planned to send a letter for the request to the tenth before receiving the call.'' He said while his voice took on a sudden edge that clearly communicated that he was now in his own version of 'boss' mode and pissed the hell off at whatever lead to this meeting.

"What about you, Nos?" he asked, turning to Sala who then met my eyes in sudden panic.

Something is wrong.. if we tell them whats happening here we may compromise any upper hand we can get, but if we don't tell them then it'll be fishier later! Shit.

Hibari put his hand on my shoulder just as Visalto fixed Sala with a ruthless stare. ''Well, I'm waiting?" he asked again as his men-and hers, took a step forward. She didn't avert her eyes from mine which seemed to piss the other don off and he followed the direction of her eyes to see Hibari's hand on my shoulder and my face forming the biggest scowl on the planet.

"Tell them, Sala." Hibari said in a calm tone that took command of the room instantly. I knew he was putting on a show. That he was ready to attack anything and anyone. We were trapped in this tiny room and I was still feeling ill from the car ride here and everything that had been happening. Intensely powerful protective instincts and crippling concern for me hit me in waves as he spoke the command. He would abandon her if he had to, if it meant helping me. That made me intensely happy and furious at him all at the same time.

He gripped my shoulder tighter while he waited for her to speak. Clearly communicating that he understood the feelings I was throwing at him and that he would abandon her anyway.

"I am not the Nos Boss, my soulmate is. She was taken in exchange for my life being spared three days ago and I was ordered to come here. I sought the Vongola for help as they are known for their compassion.'' She said, sharing her plight while protecting us. I knew she would, saw her intentions to cooperate and her lack of killing intent the minute we first met eyes. She wasn't a mafia boss, or a killer, or a liar. I felt guilt add into the mix of feelings Hibari was dealing with, but the certainty of his intention to protect me outweighed anything else.

Don Gillio-tara cursed loudly while standing up and tossing his hat onto the floor in a manor that reminded me of one of Lambo's tantrums.

"Are you saying Nos was set up? How was this meeting involved!? Only the four of us should have been able to get a message like this one to each other!" he yelled, seeming to miss the important details in his quest to release his rage. I rolled my eyes despite the situation.

Visalto was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Gillio-tara. Why do you think the Nos boss was taken before this meeting? Three days- I was informed of this meeting exactly one week before it was to begin. Nos would have been informed at that time as well, so why do you think she would be taken?" Gillio-tara stopped yelling to look at him.

''Well, at least someone else here is seeing the bigger picture.'' I commented in frustration. Don Gillio-tara flipped me off but otherwise didn't comment, focused on the situation again, it seemed. Visalto has quite the boss, don't they?

"Why? Isn't this a fucking set up? Why shouldn't I be pissed off?! We could get taken out here! Then our familligia's would be blamed and go to war against each other! While they are fighting each other the bastard who did this could step up and take all of our people the fuck out.'' Gillio-tara hissed, seeming to have been able to identify the most likely outcome.

"If that were true, why would they call Vongola when the tenth is out? What would they gain from taking out guardians and not the tenth himself? Why would they choose to take Nos rather than to kill her while they had the chance?" I asked as frustration and exhaustion got the best of me.

"Fuck you Gokudera Hayato! How should I know why they did this? Maybe you all conspired against us? Why would you not say anything until this moment if you are in the same boat as the rest of us?''

"Huh? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how long WE had to get here? Vongola got the call less than four days before the meeting was to be held, and our boss is unreachable by normal means for the next month. If anyone walked into this fucking blind it was US you bastard!" I yelled and wanted nothing more than to pound into the other man and get all the anger and sickness and frustration out in doing so. The only thing that held me in place was my fear for Hibari's safety and his hand on my shoulder. I knew he was angry, too, just as I know he is aware of my fear for his well-being and the intensity of my headache.

They all looked at us before Gillio cleared his throat. ''You had less than a week? The tenth didn't send you? Is he not aware of the situation or this meeting?" he asked, seeming too surprised to be angry.

Hibari responded ''That is correct. Hayato and Reborn are his acting leaders when he is out of commission for any reason. Within the Vongola certain guardians are given a higher level of clearance. Hayato is right hand- his word is second to the boss's own and he has all rights under this position to act as temporary boss should the tenth be unavailable. Reborn is holding down the Vongola while we both attend this meeting."

This information caused them to stop and look at me in shock. No other familligia placed the kind of trust the Vongola tenth's generation does in any one guardian, ever. No one knew about it until now. My title gave me certain power that made me just as dangerous to our enemies as the tenth was. The power I technically hold over Vongola (which Hibari seemed to have purposefully mentioned to shake them up in order to protect me) kept them staring at me in shock until Sala began to speak again.

"Gokudera-san is the one who agreed to help me. I was ordered to trick him into thinking we were soulmates, but he has a soulmate already so the act didn't work. Instead I lost my words in the process and then he offered to help me. Hibari-san went along with his command.'' She said, making it sound like Hibari was listening to orders as opposed to the truth, that we are equals in this. _We have never been in power over the other, he protects from the outside and I protect from within. It is simple, but it was not something anyone outside of the tenth and the two of us were aware of. Hibari is his invisible second right-hand. Ugh! It feels wrong to not correct them!_

"I never knew Vongola had that level of trust among its members." Visalto said before addressing us in a calmer tone. '' Ok, so let me confirm this information. My Visalto, the Gilio-tara and the Nos were notified of this meeting for different reasons and by different people claiming to be from our allied families one week ago. Meanwhile, Vongola was notified only after we had all agreed to attend. At this time, the Nos boss was taken hostage in exchange for her soulmate, who was ordered to act as her stand in and trick the Vongola into a soul-pact? Is this what I am hearing?" he asked, his expression grim. Hibari nodded. ''Yes, that is how it is to the best of our knowledge.''

"Do you have any idea why?" Gillo-tara asked, sitting back down and rubbing his forehead. He was clearly more of a fighter than a thinker.

Hibari sent confusion over our bond-ah, he wants to know if we should mention Vick. I sent back strong resolve, and he responded with a feeling of understanding.

"No, we do not. We had decided not to involve the group because we were unsure which family this came from. We have strict lines for communications between us so whoever set us all up to meet this week would have had to have access to one of those lines.''

"Ugh! So, what now? What was Vongola's plan before we all figured out that we were set up, Gokudera Hayato?" Gillio asked me from across the table.

"I planned to lure him out by acting like I fell for the trick. My soulmate and I are newly bonded and few are aware of our connection, which was where the enemy made their mistake. I discussed this with them and we agreed that I would pretend to believe in Sala while waiting for her to receive more instructions. At that point, we planned to arrange a meet up session between her and the enemy to ambush them. I was to act as though I was captured during their attack and then Hibari and I would move to strike."

Visalto snorted ''With two people? This woman-what was your name again? Has some ability- from what I can sense I would assume rain? But I highly doubt she could act as support against someone powerful enough to plan this. Did you honestly think that two people could survive?" he seemed to find my plan highly idiotic, which I honestly cannot blame him for. He didn't know the full story.

Hibari smiled. "I have never been defeated in battle. Not once in 28 years. Hayato is an expert in using short range attacks with five types of flames, as well. We are confident we could handle it. It is the same confidence that lead us to come to this meeting without backup." He said, as though to show off his high and mighty attitude. Sometimes the man enjoyed bragging about his power in that 'I own the fucking world and I knew it' kind of way. Visalto was not impressed. He was clearly a thinker, he planned his battles carefully. I have no doubt that the number of men with him are that exact number because he planned for multiple contingencies and spent a fair amount of time making escape plans. I doubted he would believe in Hibari's response. The look in his eyes screamed 'I know your holding out on me'.

"Visalto, what do you think we should do, then?" Hibari asked as annoyance passed between us in equal parts. "I think we should feign stupidity. Gillio-tara and I will act as though we are not aware of anything. You three will continue to play the game on the surface while my men and I dig up anything we can surrounding the missing Nos don. Gillio-tara, you mentioned knowing something about kidnapping soulmates?" he asked, which caught the still confused don off guard.

''I know how. But its hard, you have to plan it just right and know the right buttons. Like, if I went for Gokudera Hayato right now, I would need to know who his mate was. What kind of person are they? What I can get from him without giving anything im planning away.. it takes weeks to get to the level of taking a soulmate. I've never needed to do anything with them, either. People came to save them and made deals with us to do what we wanted them to do."

"And do you still take mates? I think you mentioned learning information from the mates of low ranking family members?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My men do it. I used to when I was a brat like the rest of you, but now I'm the don so I just tell the men what I need to find out. They set up the rest.'' I jumped in ''Who are your men?" to this question he simply laughed outright.

"Why the hell would I out my own people?"

"Because a Nos soulmate was kidnaped! How many people in the Japan underworld do you think know how to correctly kidnap a mate? You know that mates are protected no matter what-people will fight to the death for them. So do you really think more than just your guys could know how to do it? Right under your nose? What if the information your being given is just bullshit someone makes up for you to hear?" I asked while the room started to spin suddenly. Hibari gripped my shoulder and intense concern pierced my heart like nothing else, bringing me back to my senses before anyone else seemed to notice.

"What- are you saying my men did this?" he bellowed in outright rage.

"That makes sense, actually. How large is your family? Did you not become merged as one organization after the first soulmates from 100 years ago were bonded from different famillies?" Visalto asked brutally, which lead to a string of curses from the other don. "Theres a little shit I booted from the family years ago, he was killing the people we took instead of just selling them back for information. I don't sanction killing people unless its life or death, and he knew the rules for that. I didn't have a choice. But even if he is the one doing this I don't think he would have been capable of setting this up.''

"What is his name? Were you kidnapping mates for any other reason?" Hibari asked curtly.

''Vick. The fuckers name is Vick, alright?! And NO! I never use mates for anything else but collateral. They even get fed normal food and sleep in a bed! And No one is to touch them in any way!" he said, seeming to become more passionate by the end. Clearly he hated people taking advantage of bonded mates-despite the fact that he was doing it emotionally. Idiot.

I nodded at him, hoping the motion would somehow get him to keep speaking but all he did was look at me and go ''is your head alright, boy? Its shaking.'' Which earned a sharp bark of laughter from me and a deep sigh from Visalto.

''Ugh! That is the motion one makes with their heads to encourage someone to 'go on.' He was trying to get you to keep talking because your finally getting SOMEWHERE, Gillio-tara.'' He said, each word seething with tense annoyance.

"Fuck you! He could have been sick. When you bond with your mate and then touch another person's mate you get sick and some people die from that, I've seen it fucking happen. He just got bonded to his soulmate when this happened right? I thought he was passing out!" he yelled in self-defense.

''If that is true many people would have had their mates die by now.'' Visalto said while Hibari, Sala and I became deathly still. No… this cant be signs I was getting that weak. It couldn't be-but… its true that I have been feeling weak.. I could barely speak this afternoon. I felt concern, fear, rage, love, pain and horror hit me from Kyouya while we clearly shared the same line of shocked thinking. I knew the sickness was bad, but….

"Your headache… and the nausea…'' Sala said, seeming unable to keep herself from saying it out loud. The other dons both looked at me in-dare I say, concern?

''Is that true? Are you feeling those symptoms Gokudera!? If you are, get your ass away from her (he pointed at Sala) and anyone else who has a mate in this room, as soon as you can. My right hand lost his soulmate when she got sick after helping him out. The job needed a woman and she insisted on going. She touched people's mates, and then slowly they all got sicker and sicker.. she died in three days!" Hibari began to stand as intense concern and the desperate need to get me out of the area hit me. It was painful to know I made him feel that way, and even more so because I didn't plan to leave. The powerful whirl of emotions that followed made my head spin and I rubbed at my head.

''Hayato, please let us handle this. You are too important to be put at greater risk.'' He said, acting as though he was my shield.

I sighed and remained seated. ''if I leave who will play the game? IF I believe in Gillio's warnings-which I do, who would then put their lives on the line? If I back down now Nos is dead and we all know it. Tenth would not put her life in danger and neither will I. I'll be fine if I don't touch her. I'm sorry to ask, but would either of you be willing to ride to and from the hotels and meetings with us from this point on? I wont have to touch her if people we are 'supposed' to be fooling are around.'' I said while Hibari paced in intense, seething rage behind me. I could feel him like a nerve ending pulling me to him. Pain, despair, helplessness, concern.. I sent resolve, power, love back through our bond as the other dons stared at me for a moment.

''Then are you saying those symptoms are actually occurring?'' Visalto asked, his mask of aloof frustration crumbling. ''Yes. From the moment she touched me last night when trying to convince me. I've been feeling Ill on and off, nausea, headaches, dizzy spells.. this afternoon it was hard to stand. Because we share a room, Kyouya had to play along as well, so he would not be able to prevent us from touching now.'' He let out a growl behind me that caused the other dons to flinch.

"My people and Vongola have had each other's back for years. I'll help you. I know what to look for symptom wise, too. Visalto, can you find Vick? See if the fuck is doing anything off?'' Gillio-tara said as he looked between me and Visalto. ''Of course, we pride ourselves on gathering information. But… are you sure this is how you want things to go? I believe you could be at risk and I am willing to lend you my support as well. Vongola's tenth is a good man and I don't think he would choose you if you were not also a good man, Gokudera. I'd rather not have my biggest ally fall and lose their guardians.''

"I don't like this. I'm sorry, I truly am, but I want him out of this town NOW. '' Hibari said while gripping the back of my chair.

"What about Nos? He is willing to stay for his ally-just as we all are, we will fight with you. We are all in this together-'' Visalto began but was cut off. ''Nos dies, that's their problem. No one will put his life in any further danger!'' Hibari said in a voice dripping with rage. Gillio-tara watched me in silence while Sala and Visalto watched Hibari. ''You-You swore you would help me!" Sala cried, her face turning paler by the second. I smiled at her. ''Its fine, Sala. We will continue to help you. All of you, for that matter. Kyouya, I get it but I will not abandon our ally's, nor would our boss.'' she let out a shaky breath.

''Then I, head of the Gillio-tara will lend you my assistance. We are all targets but it sounds like Vongola and Nos are the ones with the worst fates, right?'' he asked while Visalto continued to look at Hibari before a smile formed on his lips.

"I understand your soulmate is at risk, Hibari Kyouya, but if you turned your back on Nos it could be considered a betrayal of the entire alliance." Gillio-tara nodded ''Yes, that's right! We are all in danger, but me and Visalto could go, we could back out. We don't abandon you, though. So Just because your mates doesn't mean you can back out of this, either. God, Vongola is fucking weird. Sending a team of soulmates to this fucking meeting..'' he trailed off while shaking his head. I sighed.

"Should I bother asking how you knew? Or should I just assume my attack dog gave us away?" I asked as Hibari sent surprise, confusion, and then annoyance through our bond before his feelings of concern resurfaced. Thankfully, he did sit back down at least. "Fuck you. I still vote we leave. Sawada can deal with the fallout.'' I sighed and let my blooming frustration hit him in waves. "No." was all I said before turning back to the other dons.

"Thank you for your assistance. Given the circumstances we will gratefully accept your offers. While I am sick, I can still plan and fight, but Kyouya will take the lead if a battle occurs. Is that alright with the three of you?" I asked, knowing that Kyouya wouldn't let me near a battlefield right now and that the other don's did have the true intention of helping us.

"We got it. So, shall we discuss our action plan?" Visalto asked, though it clearly was not a question. "First, I think that protecting both you and the Nos soulmate, Sala, should take precedence over anything else at the moment. As such, I think that we should all stay in the same area-if not the same inn, to make things easier to coordinate if one of us comes under fire. I also think that either Gillio-tara or I should follow you two from now own. Whenever you leave we should act as though we are getting along and going for drinks, dinner, whatever. This way there will be more chances to figure out who they are. I also think we should exchange contact information as the normal numbers are not safe and communicate frequently. We need to act to protect one another and to do that I feel we must start by securing ourselves as much as possible.'' Hibari felt slight relief at hearing these ideas, as did I.

"I think that is a good idea. My only concern is what to do once we catch them. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible.'' Hibari commented

"By staying close to the three of you I think it ups our chances of getting to Vick-or whoever is behind this mess. I will also begin looking into him and anything to do with the stealing or selling of soulmates. Gillio-tara, can you ride with them tonight? I need to make arrangements to get myself and my people into the hotel you are staying at. What is the address? Gokudera, do you need us to get your possessions from your hotel? Whose should we all stay at?'' Visalto asked while grabbing his pen and beginning to scribble his number on a piece of paper.

" We are at a small inn that Reborn booked, we don't mind moving. We had planned to take Sala back to the hotel she is staying at anyway for the ruse, so how about hers? It is pretty big, right?" I asked while looking at her. She smiled and nodded. ''Yes, everything should work well, actually. I have three spare rooms for my men, but they are only using two of them because the rest of my men are sleeping in my room for added protection. So, if you would like I would be fine with the two of you in one of the adjoining rooms? I could let you into it through my room to be safer.'' She offered and I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief.

''Yes, thank you.'' She smiled again ''No problem. You are all doing so much to help me… thank you very much!" she said while bowing deeply.

"We need to leave this place quickly, too. I've had an odd feeling since we came to Shibuya, and this place seems to heighten it. While I do not have my boss's hyper intuition I am confident that this locate is-or will soon be, compromised.'' I said firmly, which caused the other dons only a moment of pause before agreeing to exchange personal numbers and meet up at Sala's hotel 'The sunset' which Gillio-tara was apparently also staying at. Visalto would get our bags and his own and meet us there. While he did this we will secure him three rooms at the hotel near an exit.

"Then we will meet at 10pm at the hotel in Gillio's room.'' We agreed before we filed out of the room.

:

:

:

Hibari drove at an even pace through the streets, looking for the hotel that was just out of the city limits. Gillio-tara (who asked us to call him James going forward) was sitting next to Sala in the back seat. Thankfully Hibari and I were in front, as we could pretend to be putting on a rouse, finally! I let out a sigh as my headache began to lessen and his hand rested on my knee while he drove. Thankfully, no one commented on the action.

"James, what can you tell me about the sickness? What symptoms should I expect?'' I asked while Kyouya and I shared mututal confusion and concern between us.

"It depends on how long your touching her, what you do, what you say. So, like, If you kissed her your head will ache considerably, if you touched her you will become nauseous. If you fucked her you'll pass out cold.. I doubt you did the last one though, since your mate is with you which is a good thing. The ones with mates around tended to survive that mission. It was only those whose mates couldn't get there in time or those who slept with someone as part of the mission that died. And before you ask-this was when I was about to become don. It was the last mission under the former leader, not me. I'd never have mates do that. I have one, myself, and I couldn't see hurting her like that.'' I nodded at him before redirecting back to the symptoms.

''I never slept with her, she kissed me once and then lost her words, but I was pulled away and I told her I didn't want her repeatedly. I have had to hold her hand or put my arm around her, she has placed her head on my shoulder a few times, but not really much skin to skin contact was made. Every time I get nauseous, confused, a headache, dizzy, and feel like I ran a fucking 1000 mile marathon.'' Hibari hit me with concern and frustration, as he didn't know about the severity of the symptoms that occurred before we finally said our words.

"That isn't good! Listen to me boy, don't let yourself touch her. Not for anything. Touch Hibari every chance you get, put anyone you have to between the two of you! I don't want to say this, but those are all of the symptoms those who died went through, but I don't get how those actions would cause them. Plus, Hibari isn't denouncing you-right? It shouldn't be possible to have those and be so close to losing it with what you just told me.''

"Hayato, please-'' I cut him off ''No. I wont abandon her. Besides your fucking meds could have counted as denouncement, Kyouya! So don't blame only her, your going to have to make it up to me big time.'' He became quiet as waves of sadness and regret and concern rocketed from him. "I know, but im still angry.'' Was all I said before James started talking again. ''Are you two life-bonded? And don't fucking tell me you took the 'breaking' pills? Do you know what you've done? Its no wonder you didn't connect until now. Those pills would block any connection to him, which is why the symptoms started so intensely. When did you take them last? You need to get them out of your system fast!" Hibari gripped the wheel.

"I stopped them yesterday. When we finally figured out that we loved each other despite thinking we were not mates. We wanted to try to see if they made a difference, and clearly they did. We have wanted to be with each other for ten years, and then one day after I stopped taking them we were able to say our words.''

"Then at least your bonded like that! But you need to drink as much water as you can to get'em out of you. Plus there's this nasty liquid that you could drink to get them out sooner. I can get some to you by tomorrow night.'' He said, not giving Kyouya the option to refuse, though he wouldn't have anyway.

Just then we pulled into the hotel and started to file out. James stood between me and Sala and slapped me on the back while laughing his a booming voice. Soon, I started in on him for some random issue to look like we were joking around as we entered the hotel. Kyouya then made Visalto the reservations on the Vongola card and sent him a text letting him know the room numbers and check in time before we headed to Sala's floor.

:

:

Ok, I'll head to my room. It's the third floor by the fire escape. Room 27"

"Great, thank you, again.'' I said while Sala opened her door-room 1858, and then silently handed us the key for the room next door, room 1859.

As soon as we walked into her hotel room and locked it up she led us to the ajoining doors and we entered our room before locking the door behind her and inspecting every inch of the room, twice. Then Kyouya sat down on the couch and began pulling me to him. I smiled as I collapsed against him, leaning into his body for support and settling between his open legs. ''I love you, I love you more than myself, my town, anything- your mine. Don't think I would ever denounce you, I swear I never will.'' He whispered the words quickly, as though it was urgent to tell me these things again. "I know. You don't need to keep saying them, im sure its hard for you to be all sweet talking.'' I said, trying to lighten things up. ''It is, I feel like I have become one of those mushy Herbivores that I hate. But im willing to do it because the words are true, and you have to know them by heart.'' I felt his hands sliding up to my neck to undo my tie.

" I believe you. I love you, you fucking fucker.'' He smiled while his lips touched my ear. ''I love you, Gokudera Hayato.'' After that we were kissing, his hands working on the buttons of my shirt while I turned around in his arms to work on his shirt as well. As soon as they were undone we pushed them out of the way and he started trailing slow kissed down my chest. ''ah- yea, that feels good.'' I whispered as I buried my face in his neck and started sucking on the skin there.

''its good for me, too. Let me carry you to bed, Hayato.'' He whispered and I smiled ''sure.'' Before he put his hands under my thighs and pushed us up off the couch, holding me just right against him while carrying me across the room. He gently laid me down and loomed over me, just looking at me with love and desire. A sense of awe, of deep love and connection and commitment and promise hit me, and the air became hot, intense, I felt whole again just like I did when he said my words. ''It feels odd to feel this fucking 'right' you know? I cant believe we actually feel so good'' he smiled at me ''I know. I've felt the pull since we said them, on and off. Even in that meeting, did you?'' he asked and I nodded ''yea, I did.''

"I think I promised to hold you like you truly deserve?" he asked with a playful smirk.

''I think you did, too.'' Was all I said before he was kissing me softly and gently running his fingers through my hair. The touches were loving, kind, the touches of someone who loves you and wants you to know it. I moaned against his lips while he held me. "Hayato I love you.'' He whispered again, slowly kissing my neck, my chest. I closed my eyes to the pleasure, the heat. Dug my fingers into his hair while he licked a trail to my hips and yanked off my pants and boxers. "Kyouya!" I called his name as he slowly took me into his mouth and pushed his fingers into mine. I sucked, coating them as much as possible before he pulled them out and pushed a finger into my entrance.

"Ah!" I bit my lip to muffle the noise I was making while I became a ball of pleasure with his fingers thrusting inside me and his mouth sucking me just right. It took only a few minutes before I lost control and came. I watched while he swallowed everything and then pulled his mouth from my member before pushing in a third finger and softly nipping at my thighs. 'ng! st-inside.'' I begged, but he ignored me and took me into his mouth again while his fingers began to thrust in and out of my entrance, stretching me so he would fit inside me while he hummed around my member and I had to dig my fingers into the sheets to keep myself in reality. So good, so fucking good! I came again and again, Kyouya just added another finger each time I came and swallowed everything before starting to bob his head up and down again. "No-No more.. please, inside already!" I sodded my pleas into the dark room as his thumb joined his other fingers inside me and he sucked directly on my tip as I came for the fifth time. When he finally pulled away when I had finished he met my eyes and pulled out his fingers.

''F-fucker.. five… times?'' I rasped out in a slurred manor that earned me a soft chuckle and a hint of amusement trickled through our bond, adding to the desperate desire and the love. '' I love making you feel good.'' I snorted as i reached for him. He leaned up to meet my arms and smiled at me as I wrapped them around his shoulders. ''that's right, hold onto me.'' He whispered in a voice filled with desire as he lined up and gently pushed inside me. We both shook from the sensations hitting us, I could feel both of our pleasures at once due to our bond and we muffled our shouts with each other's lips as he moved inside me, slowly at first but then he picked up the pace until we were panting, clinging to each other and making the most pathetic sounds we had ever heard. I was deeply grateful for the fact that he had turned up the TV before we started, otherwise the entire building would have heard us. "Hayato!" he called my name again and again as pleasure rocked through me and we both came. Once he was finished releasing into me we touched and kissed gently, going at a slow grinding pace while we made love over and over. Deep thrusts that always hit the right spot, nips at the corners of lips and necks, his fingers running through my hair and the sound of his moans as he held me were all I knew for several hours. The gentle love and affection, the intense pleasure and powerful white-hot desire all combined while we held each other. It was not until we were too tired to even get hard anymore that we stopped making love.

"Don't pull out.'' I said in a voice I could no longer recognize. He laid his head on the top of mine before softly rolling us onto our sides. 'ah-shit!' I cussed at him as I wrapped my legs around him to keep him inside me. He gripped my hips and pushed the rest of the way in, burying himself as deeply as he could.

"I cant suffocate you while we sleep.'' He murmured tiredly before softly rubbing patterns into my hips. ''you alright?'' he asked after a few minutes. I smiled at him ''so fucking good. You?'' he laughed ''I have never been more content.'' He said simply before closing his eyes and pushing his head against mine.

We fell asleep tangled together.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up tangled in Kyouya's arms, his fingers slowly running through my hair. The TV was still on and he seemed to be focused on the news, his emotions hit me as I woke up and I smiled. Love, protection, devotion, loyalty and deep possessiveness, coupled with a feeling a calmness that he seemed to be enjoying. I didn't bother to move, my hips were still sore and he was so content that I didn't want it to end. I laid there, loving the feeling of him wrapped around me and the comfort of his fingers tangled in my hair. When he spoke I was almost surprised ''Good morning, Hayato." I smiled ''Morning, Kyouya. How long have you been awake?" he kissed the top of my head ''A few hours. I enjoy watching you sleep, which works for us well, considering how early I tend to wake up." I sighed ''How can you be up so early when we had sex like THAT last night?" he smirked at me ''I recover quickly?"

I rolled my eyes ''fuck you- you know I am energetic today. When we do it I tend to feel more physically well than when we aren't, but that still doesn't mean that I don't get tired.'' He lightly pulled on my hair. ''I love you, Gokudera Hayato.'' I smiled ''don't try to distract me, you fucking fucker.'' I replied and he laughed. "You know, I may be tired but I could still kick your ass.'' I continued, enjoying the responses ''Oh? Is that right, sir chicken shit?" I elbowed him in the rib and felt satisfaction from the intake of breath. ''I told you not to call me that." He lightly pulled my hair, annoyance hitting me in waves, but humor still laced it. ''I think everyone will shit themselves when they find out… your nothing like how they see you, you know that right?" He held me tighter ''While I do not care what those herbivores think, I am still the same crowd hating, emotion-despising man I always was. But with you, I cant make myself go back to who I am with others. Be grateful. Otherwise that last comment would have gotten you bitten to death.'' I snorted ''So you'll have to go back to your anti-social self sooner or later? Is that like a 'I lost my glass slipper so I'm in rags again' kind of thing?" He growled while I laughed at my own joke. ''More like my being most comfortable when I'm not around people- I suppose you could call me 'grumpy' from now on. You do have a wicked step mother.'' I continued to laugh, feeling amused satisfaction from him. ''that's perfect- you should never give me ideas like that! " he laughed with me for a few minutes before his phone alarm went off. He pushed the 'off' button and then wrapped his arms around me again.

''You know, I feel like I forgot something important but I cant remember what it was..'' I said, suddenly feeling the need to do… something.. "Hnnn… I don't recall anything. " I closed my eyes in concentration, which quickly dissolved into noticing that I was still sticky and needed to clean up . ''Shit.'' I said before slowly peeling myself away. ''I need a shower.'' He smiled at me and nodded ''shall I carry you?" I rolled my eyes. "only if you wash me.'' He slid out of bed and pulled me into his arms. ''s-seriously?" I asked, shocked. He smiled while laughing. ''Of course. You are mine and it is my job to care for you, Hayato. I can feel how sore your hips are.'' I kissed him and wrapped my arms around him while he carried me into the bathroom.

.

By the time we had showered and gotten dressed we had just sent texts to James and Yuri (the boss of the Visalto) about todays plans to meet up. It was only 10 am and we had all planned to meet at noon. Other than sending a few texts back and forth last night Hibari and I had chosen to let the other dons and Sala think what they wanted and stayed in the room, so we had all planned to meet up and discuss our options today.

''Let me dry your hair for you, Hayato." I nodded and sat on the floor absently while he settled behind me. Now that we could feel each other's emotions and physical sensations I knew he was feeling bad that he over did it, even if I wanted it. I also knew he was feeling intense devotion- as always, and a desire to be helpful, so I assumed he was trying to take care of me. I sent contentment and love over our bond before he started drying my hair. "Would you hand me a bar?" he asked after a few minutes, and I started unwrapping protein bars when someone began beating down the door with enough force to break it.

Had we not heard the shout of 'Give the octopus head back to the EXTREAM!' we may have attacked, as it was, we simply sat in confusion, exasperation and frustration as Ryohei appeared in the doorway before he and Takeshi rushed inside. Only to find me sitting awkwardly between Kyouya's legs while he was toweling my hair. To make matters more confusing for them, I had frozen from the surprise with one arm draped over his knee and the other holding out a bar to feed to him. They both stopped, took in the scene and then looked at each other before Takeshi decided to prove he really didn't have more than one brain cell.

''The fuck? An illusion!" he called out before getting ready to strike while Ryohei yelled ''To the EXTREAM!" before a sudden burst of powerful rain flames came shooting at them and they both had to leap out of the way. Sala appeared with her men around her and a powerful killing intent. Kyouya and I stood up before anyone else could attack ''knock it off turf top! Baseball idiot! Its us, you bastards!" I screeched as I fell back into 'right-hand-man mode.' They both looked at me like I grew a second head. ''Wait… Hayato?! But…. No… that.." Takeshi trailed off with his mouth hanging open. ''That what, Yamamoto Takeshi?" Kyouya asked while smirking and lifting a tonfa. He was more amused than anything, though.

"Wait- these are your people? Why are they attacking you?" Sala asked in shock while I sighed as Ryohei began to speak ''that's wrong! We were attacking the illusions that you people made to fool us TO THE EXTREAM!" She covered her ears. I rolled my eyes ''No you moron! She's the mate of the Nos family-an Ally! Stand the fuck down!" He looked at me in confused surprise before seeming to finally come to the conclusion that this was not, in fact, a lair of illusions. "Oh. Sorry about that-" Ryohei began before having to jump back as 'Garoo' jumped in front of him to deflect a impressive amount of lightening flames. I looked to the doorway just in time to see James come running into the room in his polka dotted pajamas. ''What the hell're you boys doing in here! Aren't these your men?" he bellowed at Ryohei and Takeshi before the flames disappeared. "Its complicated.'' Kyouya said while I walked over to the two of them and smacked them both upside the heads in a practiced move that neither of them-even when they were not shocked and confused, were good at dodging. ''Oi. Apologize for being stupid, idiots!" I hissed and pointed at Sala and James. "W-wait… are you real?!" Ryohei yelled and I sighed before pointing at Kyouya.

"We said our words, we're latent mates, its fucking weird, get used to it. Now APOLOGIZE for your mistake! Don Gillio-tara and Sala came in to save us from our own people!" I explained it as simply as I could, and when I watched both of their jaws drop open in mirror images of shock I began to laugh. The scene, the timing.. it was all too good, and I lost it. I ended up laughing so hard that I was dry heaving and Kyouya had to pat my back to get me to breathe again.

''What the hell! We were EXTREAMLY CONCERNED! Reborn sent us because you didn't check in and now your laughing, you octopus!"

"What was that Herbivore? I would be happy to bite you to death.'' Kyouya said as a wave of-frankly stupid-protectiveness came over him. "N-now now, Hibari lets just calm down. " Takeshi said as he finannly recomposed his face. ''Oh? I see that two people will be bitten to death today, Yamamoto Takeshi.'' He said as the other people who were not used to this sort of ass-backwards conversation stood by in confusion. I was sad to see that Visalto was now skidding to a stop after having clearly ran from the very top floor (the only rooms open meeting his needs) to the fifth floor within the span of the short few minutes since the attack. He looked around the room before chuckling to himself.

"Having some difficulties this morning?" he asked as he walked over to me without bothering to pause. I sighed. ''You could say that. Oi! Attack-dog, we have bigger bones to break, you can kill them later.'' Takeshi and Ryohei both looked at me in concern for my mental state, as no one would try calling him that unless they wanted to die, but as his mate I could get away with it. Kyouya grunted and sent annoyance and then deep amusment and satisfaction at me as he read their faces. ''Fine, but only for now Hayato. I'll bite them to death later.'' The idiots nearly chocked on air.

"Ah, it really was true then, about the two of you having just said your words yesterday? I honestly thought it was a joke.'' Yuri said into the stunned silence. I smirked and grabbed a new protein bar. "Yep, unfortunately, much like finding out that you knew your mate for ten years before bonding because he was taking fucking breaking pills, getting sick out of my mind every time someone else touches me or I move wrong and acting as tenth's stand in are all true." I said while taking a bite.

"Huh? What's a breaking pill? Are you serious Hayato?" Takeshi asked as he walked closer and put a hand on my shoulder. The touch wasn't unpleasant though. I didn't get sick or dizzy, it was just Takeshi, one of my two best friends who always gets too touchy for people to stand. Plus his touch has always soothed me despite my desperate attempts to deny it. ''Yea, its shit. I have a long ass story to explain to the two of you idiots but first, can you give me your cell? I think I should apologize to Reborn-san for this before he keeps sending losers to join the party.''

"ha-ha! Gotha! Oh, but are you ok? You said your sick?" he asked while I took his phone from him and pulled up contacts. Kyouya didn't seem to feel any rush to protect me from his touch, thankfully, perhaps he could tell that it was strangely calming for me. "That is correct, anyone other than myself touching him has caused him major-and life threatening, symptoms from an illness that kills soulmates. Anyone they touch or who touch them will cause the illness to worsen. When that happens it can lead to a lot of different symptoms, but he should be fine with you.'' He said as relief, sudden gratitude and concern for me replaced the other emotions (well, the love and loyalty was always there now, so that doesn't count.) "Why him?" Sala asked as I hit send and put the phone to my ear. Takeshi had tensed and sent me one of those 'so this is serious.' And 'I have your back' looks he was so fucking good at giving me. "Because he's family to Hayato-though god only knows why. The feeling I sense from him is the same as though Hayato's blood related sibling touched him. I have never felt the need to protect him from Yamamoto or Sawada before, or now."

"Really? How could you know that? If you weren't bonded until yesterday?" Sala asked while I listened to the Vongola mansion's recording and made an unhappy sound while Takeshi looked at me ''The baby.'' He said in response to the noise. ''God cant you just fucking use his name?" I said while searching again. ''Ha-ha, but its better because he is!" I sighed ''you only think that because he WAS. He is now a middle schooler.'' Kyouya just waved his hand at the two of us while the dons watched us like we were fucking side show freaks. ''Like I said, they act like siblings, so I never felt jealous or had the need to protect Hayato from him. We may have just said our words, but I had been drawn to Hayato for ten years, we just had a lot of pills running interference. That didn't mean the bond wasn't already in place.'' He explained while Takeshi piped up with ''Well that's great to know! Why didn't you-I don't know, stop taking pills that sound like they could kill him? If you loved him for ten years you should have stopped taking them and seen what could happen.'' He said in a voice that read 'you hurt him and I'm pissed.' I sighed ''I'll tell you what I told him- you can kill each other later. Focus- oh! finally!" I pushed the send button again and Reborn picked up on the first ring. ''Yamamoto?'' Reborn-san asked instantly, his 'I'll cut you' tone in place.

"No, its me Reborn-san. I apologize for not contacting you directly. We were awoken to the idiots breaking down the door.'' I said as I walked into the bathroom to talk while they continued to argue. "Why didn't you call me last night? I told you every. Eight. Hours. Did I not, Gokudera?" I leaned against the sink ''Life has been shitty, and Hibari is my fucking soulmate, Reborn.'' I said in way of explanation. ''What?'' he asked

"Here's the deal, while we were following the plan from yesterday Hibari got us ambushed in the forest while trying to beat someone to death, the usual. However, the people who ambushed us claimed they were from the Tara and wanted our aid to take out their boss. We played along and were also able to find out that they were the ones who ordered Sala to do what she did. The way they asked us the questions… it was deliberate. It was saying 'I know you know somethings up and I'm throwing you a bone.' But we also got the feeling that if we didn't keep up the rouse something worse would happen."

"Go on." He said when I had stopped to let him absorb the information.

"Right. So, we met with her as planned and I got sicker than I have been in a really long time. I mentioned that I was feeling sick, right? It happens whenever someone else touches me. So Hibari and I went to get some air and ended up saying our words. I've been sick since we got here, though, so I don't think its because of the bond. I think its something bigger, there's still more to this than we know, I just get that feeling and I cant seem to figure out why-" I would have continued but suddenly my head swam and I became suddenly-painfully, nauseous and I heard a loud 'Hayato!' from the other room alongside painful concern, I groaned ''OI! Gokudera!" Reborn called and I forced myself to respond as Kyouya came up to me and put his arm around my waist to steady me. Takeshi and Ryohei were both standing in the doorway. "Are you ok!?" Ryohei yelled in surprise, making my head hurt more intensely. ''is he ok?'' Takeshi asked in a more concerned voice before taking a step closer to me and looking at Kyouya who responded for me ''no, he isn't. but my touching him helps.'' I took a deep breath while responding to Reborn while I still had the energy.

"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy all of the sudden.'' I then looked at Ryohei and whispered ''block the door and distract idiot.'' And he nodded in understanding before talking about some random shit to do with my health while I continued. ''Anyway, during the meeting we had that night, Hibari asked the other dons why we had to have the meeting. At that point, the others all stared at us in shock. Apparently someone has tapped into our internal communications software and contacted each familligia-NOS, Gillio-tara, Visalto, at least a week before the meeting telling each of them a different lie about either Tenth, NOS or Visalto needing aid with something major." The phone was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Then, your saying this was far more involved than a internal dispute?" he asked, just to be sure. "Yes, that is correct. When the other dons found out about Nos's mate's situation and my sickness they offered us their aid. I think we can trust them, so we moved to another hotel that can accommodate all of the dons in one place. Then, because I was dealing with intense symptoms on top of this new information, we didn't remember to call. I apologize."

After a few minutes of silence Reborn-san spoke in a serious tone ''listen Gokudera, I get that you want to stay, your Tsuna's stand in, and I wont tell you to leave. However, I need to know what you mean by 'sickness'.'' He said, a grim tone in his voice. Kyouya held me to him tighter than before and I forced myself to continue speaking as another wave of unexplainable dizziness hit me ''I've been weak, I get dizzy or think I'm going to vomit. Pain shoots through me, I'm getting massive headaches and chest pains, and I'm insanely tired… Don Gillio-tara claimed that this illness leads to the death of soulmates'' I said, feeling Kyouya's concern intensify, and I didn't miss Takeshi's noise of concern that he only uses when he's in pain, either. Reborn cursed before responding. '' I have known someone who was killed after developing the symptoms your having. If your experiencing them it is far worse than just a flu or dizzy spell. There is only one person who has lived through those kinds of symptoms. Your now being forced to touch other people…. If this is the illness that leads to soulmates dying.. I'm concerned you may die, Gokudera. You are not to touch her or anyone but Hibari and Yamamoto until this is over, understand? I'm also contacting Tsuna, I don't want extra pressure on you. If the other Don is not aware of the information we currently have, please inform him as soon as possible. I'm going to come as well to take some of the pressure off of you.'' he said and I forced myself to remain calm, to stay in the present. I focused on Kyouya's hand on my hip to keep from feeling things that will cause him more concern. "I understand. We will see you soon, Reborn-san.'' I said before he hung up. "Well?" Kyouya asked as concern and fear still laced through him even though the dizziness was gone. I sighed and gave him a look ''other room.'' Before walking into the main area where Ryohei and the others were waiting. ''Well, what's the verdict with Reborn? How's the dizziness?'' Gillio-tara asked

''Reborn is coming. He said he will arrange for someone to cover him and then get down here by tomorrow. ''

"Then the baby is coming to Shibuya?'' Takeshi asked when I handed the phone back to him, Kyouya's hand returning to rest on my waist. ''Yea, he's going to be here in a few hours, and he's sending Mukuro to get tenth. At this point, with my getting this sick he said he didn't want to risk me having to take charge.'' I said as concern and confusion hit me. ''I don't know, he didn't say.'' Takeshi and Ryohei looked at me in confusion to the statement just as Yuri began to speak. ''Then, Reborn will be here soon? His assistance will be appreciated, but are you not still acting as the tenths' fill in?'' he asked and Takeshi responded ''Hayato is still second, but Reborn is third, so him coming and leaving Vongola open is a big deal. " he sent me a 'its that bad?' look, and I got the feeling he didn't mean our situation. I looked at the dons.

"I apologize for this morning, though it was good to see such a fast response. Your pajama's are impressive, James.'' Kyouya and Yuri both smirked ''Oh fuck you boy! Do you know how fast I ran up here to save you?" I leaned into Kyouya and he tightened his hold on me. '' Thanks for that, and for the laugh. Were you planning to get food like that?'' He growled before Yuri started chuckling to himself and James sent a middle finger my way before storming away to get dressed. "Then.. I will go and finish getting ready, myself.'' Sala said softly before she and her men walked through the destroyed rooms and then disappeared behind the only remaining door.

Yuri looked at me before speaking with concern ''You got dizzy as soon as you left his side…

how bad is this, Gokudera? Don't lie to me. Reborn and I have been in contact for years, there is no way he would leave unless he was sure that you were in danger of..'' he didn't finish, Kyouya sent intense panic my way and I sent back love before responding. ''He said he has seen people die after developing my symptoms, yea. But that I didn't sound as bad as them, and he is coming because we have reason to believe that more than one ally is in danger, we got wind of a plot to kill James yesterday and we didn't want to upset him. After consulting with Reborn, we decided to make you aware of our information. I need to go over things with these two idiots, anyway. Will you listen?"

The room was silent for a few minutes while Kyouya assaulted me with painful grief and panic and a burning, desperate instinct to protect me. Had I not been expecting his reaction I would have cried from the pain this news caused him. I sent love, resolve, understanding, and devotion his way, but it did nothing to calm his panic. ''Please, let me take you home. Or allow Yamamoto to take you home. Its too dangerous and now that Reborn is coming he can take command.. please, I cant lose you.'' He said into the silence of the room as everyone looked at us in shock and clear concern at the desperation in his voice.

I closed my eyes to force myself to deny him "No. I wont run away. I feel like, wherever I am, this wont stop. I just.. get a feeling that we must take these people out if we want to see my sickness go away. I know I don't have the tenth's level of intuition, but I DO trust my instincts.'' He gripped my waist tighter, he was not happy, but he trusted me enough not to argue. Takeshi looked at me and nodded. ''I agree with Hibari, Hayato. But, I don't think you'd listen to anyone-not even Tsuna. You don't listen to anyone if you get a strong enough feeling, right? Even he couldn't make you leave now." I sent him a grateful smile ''Yea, not even tenth.'' Ryohei spoke up in a surprisingly low voice. ''Tell us what's happening so I can beat up whoever did this.'' I snorted before gesturing for them to all sit down.

:

:

Once I had finished my explanation, I sat back and closed my eyes, waiting for the fallout. Yuri spoke in his boss voice, clearly unhappy about not knowing the full story. ''Your telling me someone named Vick told you he was part of the Tara and wanted to kill James? That you made a fake deal with him to escape? That he was so powerful that the two of you-of all people, felt the need to run?" Kyouya nodded ''Yes, that is correct. We apologize for not informing you of the entire story, we needed to be sure you and the others were going to be on our side." Yuri sighed ''I know. I would have done the same thing. Shit, though, James mentioned he kicked the fucker out of the family right? So how in the hell did he end up having access to our intel? " I sighed, I know kyouya will kill me for not telling him this sooner but…

"Its not just that. I think he can cause-or at least enhance, this illness. The second I saw him I nearly collapsed. I had to hold onto Kyouya's arm with all my strength in order to stay conscious. I think maybe he can affect soulmates in some way, but I don't know what that may be.'' As soon as the words were out Kyouya added anger to his pain, sorrow and helplessness that he sent my way. Shit.

"Then we kill him and you may be able to be saved, right?" Takeshi said, seeming to surprise everyone. I was the only one who knew that he has killed before, that he stood on a battlefield covered in blood and tears… I forced myself away from that memory because Kyouya can NEVER know about it. I sent love his way to try to mask any other emotions I may have felt at the memory before responding. ''Yes, that's right. But I don't want you going out there killing people, you don't need to do that. The other dons, me, Kyouya- we kill people, you don't.'' He held my eyes, clearly sending me vibes of frustration, suspicion and hurt before he composed his face and nodded once.

"Those are naive words, but I am aware that the tenth only allows certain people to bear the burden of killings. Are you two the only ones?'' Yuri asked while looking at Kyouya and I. Before I could speak, though, Takeshi's hand twitched once and instinct concern bloomed inside me. He has a bad feeling about something. ''No, actually. More than half of us have had to kill people before. Ryohei and I have just been lucky so far. Ha-ha!'' he said while ending with a fake laugh and rubbing the back of his head. A lie? Then he must be concerned about saying that we don't kill out loud? An enemy was listening? Kyouya sent confusion at me as he was registering my emotions.

"Yuri, what do you think we should do to coordinate so many people?'' I asked, purposefully avoiding Kyouya's questions. He looked at me and measured my words for several minutes.

"I would have to inform the don, but first I would ensure we knew where Vick was, if at all possible. Still… because he is here protecting you, and is willing to put himself at risk-as am I, I feel that he should be told the entire story. We cannot keep anything from each other right now. " I nodded. ''I agree. Why are you so willing to help us, then? I've been meaning to ask. James is simple, he isn't a thinker so its easy to tell he is helping because he is genuinely concerned. Not that I am saying your not worried, but…'' I trailed off as he laughed quietly. ''Its because I deemed the two of you worthy, your good people just as your boss is a good man, and I believe in those he chose to believe in. He has helped me with a lot of things over the years, and I owe him and you for three years ago.'' He said and I recalled that horrible night three years ago again, when tenth was standing in a gym filled with coffins silently after our allies had been killed, the Visalto Don, Yuri, was crying beside the coffins of his men. Tenth made me swear never to tell a soul, only the three of us know about what happened that day, about the battle we waged to help them out.. the same battle that lead to Takeshi's only kills.. I held his eyes and he nodded, clearly remembering too. ''You and the tenth saved me. I'll return that favor. Plus, I still need you to show me around your trading, we made an agreement, after all.'' I smiled ''Yea, I know. So, What do the two of you muscle heads think?"

They both looked at me and Takeshi seemed to focus on Kyouya's hand on my waist, then on Kyouya as he spoke. ''I will not allow Hayato to die, I will do whatever I have to do to make sure these people-and whatever is causing this, are dead. Regardless of the orders I get, Hayato.. is aware I am capable of killing to save him. I've done it before. He's my partner on the battlefield, and I wont stop protecting him now.'' Kyouya smirked, clearly taking Takeshi's statement as both challenge and huge relief. The urge to win suddenly hit me and I rolled my eyes. ''Kyouya, its not a fucking game."

"I know, but I love a challenge, Hayato. Besides, its not every day you hear Yamamoto Takeshi saying such things.'' Takeshi seemed surprised when he spoke again ''Your not going to threaten to 'bite me to death' because I just said Hayato was important to me? I heard mates were insanely possessive and there's no way in hell that you wouldn't be.'' He trailed off while looking between us, and I remembered conversation after conversation with him about my feelings for Hibari which, at the time, I had believed to be one sided. He did not like my interest in Kyouya from the beginning. I had told him I loved Kyouya right after the battle with the immortals, and he had been trying to be supportive of my sexuality. I can still recall those conversations, and I can still remember our promise to make it just once when, after the battle three years ago, we held each other and touched. He never asked me to comfort him again, never asked me for anything, even though I could fucking tell that he want more. Instead, we became even closer friends, and he became increasingly protective of me since then. Right now, he's at the end of his rope, I just knew it. Kyouya, thankfully, cant read my thoughts, and the emotions must have been misinterpreted to suit the situation, because all I got from him was that same painful concern.

" He is. You should have seen the man yesterday while we discussed this situation. He was ready to kill us all. I thought I would have to fight to the death more than once while we talked about the situation." Yuri chimed in helpfully.

"Hayato's emotions strongly impact mine, he wants to protect you almost as much as he wants to protect me. For whatever reason he sees you as family, so I don't feel the need to protect him from you. Life-bonding is a little frustrating in that sense. I want to hate you, but I cant.'' Their eyes all widened. ''Seriously? Latent and Life-bonded? God Hibari, how many of those pills did you take to make you two so incapable of saying your words?'' Takeshi said as guilt hit me once again. ''Don't go there, you couldn't make me regret things more than I already do.'' Kyouya said in a harsh voice. I decided to change the subject before it became any more unconformable than it already was. ''So, on a different topic, Yuri, its almost time to meet up with all of them. Will you or Takeshi keep close to me to keep up the rouse? Also, are you ready to go? I think those slippers suit you, but if we are going in a public place… " He looked at his own feet and cursed before standing up. ''I'll be back down in 10 minutes.'' Before walking out of the room.

Once he was gone I stood up and walked over to put Kyouya's jacket back on and pulled on my shoes. ''What are you waiting for?'' I asked as they all still sat there. Takeshi was the first to speak ''Please.'' Was all he said, just once, but then Ryohei was standing up and smiled at me ''I don't want you to die, I vote you stay with Takeshi while Hibari and I go kick some ass!'' I rolled my eyes. ''I won't back down.'' "But you said you got sicker around Vick right? How are you going to kill him? Wont being around him kill you?" he said, continuing the conversation with a suddenly level headed argument.

" I will go.'' I whispered before Kyouya hit me with intense rage and pain and grief, with such crippling sadness that I nearly fell over. ''No. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of feeling like shit. I want to end him with my own hands- or at least watch as one of you end him with yours.'' They all looked at me, they all wanted to argue, and they all-even Kyouya, understood enough to keep their mouths shut. He stood up and put an arm around me. ''Either I or Yamamoto will touch you at all times. You seem calmed by him as well. And I will make myself clear now, Hayato. I don't give a shit about our cover. Understood?'' I held his gaze. "Fine."

:

:

We met up with the others in the lobby, James and Sala were talking to the owner of the hotel, promising to pay for damages and handing over their credit cards while trying to get permission to remain in the hotel, which they somehow were able to do. "Well, should we all try to ride in the same cars? I, Sala and James should be able to fit in one, you four in Hibari's?" Yuri asked as we walked into the parking lot. ''Sure'' was all I said before Ryohei noticed a 'extremely suspicious' bush and ran over to it before punching the poor thing for simply being alive. I had to scream at him to back up before he was done. I was a few inches from him, forcing myself not to kick his ass because we didn't have time for that, when I noticed a small black box near the base of a tree. ''A tracker?... No, this records video? They were not only watching the hotel but recording us, huh?" James said in frustration before unlocking his car. I got a bad feeling about it, sudden fear hit me in that way it always does before something goes very wrong. I was running at him before I could think about it and then grabbed his arm, which instantly made me nearly fall over in sudden intense pain. "no. Don't get.. I-n" was all I could gasp out before Kyouya and Takeshi were grabbing me on either side and pulling me up off the ground.

''Hayato! Speak to me, Hayato!" Someone- Takeshi? Was screaming and Kyouya's agony rocked me to the point of tears. I could see them, sort of, but I couldn't speak. Why? I just touched him a little! "Holy shit! He's that bad?! Get his ass into a car NOW. Stay away from other people, call Reborn and get your fucking boss here to help us kick ass!'' James yelled while Kyouya picked me up and Takeshi beeped his car before He slid into the driver's seat and Kyouya climbed into the back of the car with me in his arms. ''Wait for me! I cant just stay away!" I could hear Ryohei Yell, see Yuri and James grab onto him, see Sala trying to stand between him and the car. ''For whatever reason he cant touch other people- we get near him and he's dead! So please… I know its hard, but hang on!" She said in a barely controlled voice and Takeshi took off, leaving him in clear distress with the other dons.

Kyouya was clutching me to him so hard that it hurt, or would have hurt-if I could feel sensations. My body was like lead, numb and tired. He was crying, I could see it and feel his desperation, love, terror and bone deep agony. I could hear his voice inside my head, screaming thoughts 'don't leave me' and 'I need you- I wont live if you don't.' and 'Ill follow him, if he dies I will kill myself, I cant live alone, he has to be with me!' I could hear cars honking at us and knew Takeshi was driving like I normally do, 90mph -in-a - -school-zone- fast. "He will not die, Hibari. He wont!" Takeshi said loudly, but his voice was breaking, he didn't believe his own words.

Kyouya continued to cry, openly and without shame despite his painfulness. He put his head on mine and started praying that I would live into my ear. This continued for god knows how long until I slowly I felt my strength begin to return, could feel sensations again and Kyouya slowly lifted his head to look at me.

'' Are you able to feel me now, Hayato? You-you couldn't feel anything for so long.'' He whispered, voice shaking. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. I forced myself to think my response, trying to talk to him in my head. I pushed strong resolve, love and the words 'yes, I can' at him and felt him still as his eyes widened. ''We…We can even do that?" He said and I sent back 'yes' and 'I love you.' Over and over while he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of slight relief before talking into my head, too. 'I didn't think I would hear you ever again.' I replied instantly 'I know. Why did this happen? How… How could this happen? I just touched him once, to save him. How..' he started running his fingers through my hair as Takeshi spoke ''Is he awake? Is he al-live?" his voice was breaking now, and I wanted to yell out 'Don't cry you ass!' but instead Kyouya spoke for me ''He is.. He cant speak or move, but he can feel me touching him and.. somehow we are able to speak through our thoughts. More than just our emotions, Life-bonds seem to be able to let us send thoughts to each other. He just told you 'Don't cry, you ass' in my head.'' Takeshi started laughing in relief ''Thank god! He's still fucked up but he's alive!'' I sent concern along our bond and sent my thoughts his way 'Don't let him break, Kyouya. You love me, I love you more than anything, your my mate, but I love him, too. He's my best friend and he breaks easier than you'd think.' He held me impossibly tighter. 'what do you mean? I will not need to do anything, because your not leaving me. No matter what. I'll die first.'

I let him feel my pain and fear from those words before continuing. 'I wont.. I'll try not too, at least. Just, please, stay with him if something happens. If we-if we weren't able to be together I would have chosen him. I saw him kill before, and that night he was so broken up.. he needed comfort and we were intimate-just touching, of course, and he knows we would never be more than friends, but…. Kyouya, I love you, I love you more than anything, but I love him too. If I didn't get to have you.. I would have taken his hand. I love you thousands of times more, but you need to know that he matters to me, too. I need you both to have someone, promise me.' He felt immense jealousy and concern, but no hurt or protectiveness or anger, instead understanding passed between us. 'I will. But I wont need to, Hayato. Please don't make me need to.' 'I will try, I want to grow old with you.' He smiled and kissed my forehead 'me too.' He said in his head. I could still hear Takeshi sniffling, but he had not said anything else and the car fell silent.

I couldn't talk about leaving them anymore and Kyouya was already at a breaking point, so I sent random thoughts to him, about trees I saw out of the window and about how the sky looked, random things to keep him from losing it entirely. The car's speed did not slow, and car horns blazed again and again. Despite this, Kyouya continued to try to hide his tears from Takeshi by laying his head against my chest while he ran his fingers through my hair in that intensely comforting way he always did. His agony and concern had yet to lesson despite knowing I was awake, and I didn't try to hide my own fear and uncertainty any longer, either. I couldn't stop myself from feeling my own agony and fear at the situation along with his. Every now and then I could hear Takeshi sniffle or take deep breaths, trying to calm himself. I don't know how long had passed before Takeshi's phone rang, and he flipped it open and hit speaker without bothering to look to see who it was. When tenth's voice came over the phone I felt tears slide down my face.

"Takeshi! I hear Hayato's sick, what's going on? Where are you? I cant get a hold of him! Kyoko and I are back and heading to Shibuya now." Takeshi cleared his throat. ''Its.. its bad. Its really bad Tsuna. Hayato was getting sick, apparently he's been dizzy and nauseas and weak since they entered Shibuya. We were able to get to them today, but he touched Don Gillio-tara to protect him from something and suddenly… S-suddenly he cant move or talk.. Hibari says he's alive.. but..'' I heard an actual sob from the other end of the phone and the intense, desperate need to talk to him punched me in the gut. I opened my mouth and was able to get enough energy to finally say something. ''I'm.. al-ive tenth. Don't cry.''

Kyouya looked at me in relief before feeling the intense pain I experienced when I spoke. If I was able to make another sound, it would have been a scream of agony, my throat felt like it was burning. His concern intensified and he took over, speaking louder in a thick voice. ''Sawada, did you hear that? Hayato forced himself to talk, so you better let him know you heard him.'' Tenth cleared his throat ''I did- thank god! Hayato, are you ok? Where are the three of you now?" Kyouya spoke for me again, because the pain was too much like fire in my throat and I couldn't handle another round of it. ''He cant speak, it causes him intense pain. He cant move much, but he is able to open and close his eyes, take deep breaths and breathe on his own and his heartbeat is stabilizing. I don't know where we are going, we just carried him into the car.''

"Its that bad! Oh god! How did this happen? How was just going there causing this? I didn't get much information, Mukuro said he was busy and sent Fran to get us instead… something about someone named Vick chasing him…" Kyouya put his head against mine again before speaking our mutual thoughts of shocked concern. ''Vick is the name of the man responsible for this. He kidnapped the Nos boss, forced her soulmate to come to this meeting to make Hayato believe they were mates long enough to get to the Vongola vaults and the mini mall. Then, once we figured it out, Vick ambushed us in the woods and asked us to help him kill Gillio-tara. Apparently he was kicked out of the family for killing mates'' Tenth let out a shocked breath before Kyouya continued briefing tenth on the situation.

''We all discussed how the meeting came about, and it turned out that all communication systems were hacked into. Vick manipulated us all into this meeting, Sawada. Hayato had been sick since we entered Shibuya, and whenever he touches another person the illness worsens. When Gillio-tara was watching us he noticed Hayato's symptoms first, saying his sickness was a illness that killed soulmates. He saw it during his time working under the last boss of the Gillio-tara family. From there, the other dons, the Nos mate and the two of us began an alliance to protect Hayato and the Nos mate. They have all been acting to protect him, but then he touched Gillio-tara just enough to stop him from getting into a tampered car, and he is as Takeshi described.'' He finished while I forced my head to move just enough that I could hide my face in his chest.

"Ok, I understand the situation, I think. Is Vick the one causing Hayato's illness? How is he sick, though? Isn't the illness for mates only? He hasn't found his mate, right Hayato?" this time Takeshi responded. "Actually, Tsuna, it turns out Hibari is his soulmate. They're latent and life-bonded, its seriously insane! Hibari was taking breaking pills because he didn't know they were mates, it's a long story I still don't get completely, but he had been taking them before he met Hayato, and it stopped their connection. They said they only just said their words when they got here!'' Tenth let out a shocked sound, understandably, but then a ''Congratulations, once this is over we will celebrate your union. So Hayato- you are NOT allowed to die on us, understand? Its an order, and If you defy me I will go into hell and bring you back home if I have to, understand?" Kyouya snorted.

"He understands, Sawada. '' then, when I thought the conversation would begin to go in a different direction Kyouya spoke again ''Hayato is really close to... Closer than he'd admit. I'm his mate, I feel it. Vick is the only person Hayato is afraid of. He said he feels sickest, like he will pass out at any moment, when that man is around. Find and kill Vick, please, I cant leave Hayato's side to do it now, and we need Takeshi for this reason as well.'' I sent surprise and increased panic his way.. he could feel me dying?

"I understand. Life-bonded means you live and die as one. I will leave Hayato to the two of you. Takeshi, activate your rain flames and leave Jiro and Kojiro near Hayato. Rain sooths, so it should slow the progression of this long enough to save him. I'll get everyone on this. Mukuro is currently planning to attack Vick because he went into the amusement park and tried to kill him, so I will have Him, Chrome, Marmon and Fran track him down. I am on my way and will come see you, then I will work with Ryohei, Lambo, Reborn and the other Dons to find and kill him on our end. Dino is taking care of Vongola, and the Varia have already been sent out, as well. We will end this. I promise.'' Kyouya rested his head on mine again and Takeshi explained our location "We are going to leave Shibuya. I know of a small cabin that we can hide in until he's better. I went there a few times for baseball practices, no one should know about it. I will tell you where to find us once I am sure Hayato is safe, ok, Tsuna?'' he asked and the tenth agreed before ordering me to keep living-again, and hanging up.

"Thank you" was all Kyouya said before I let my panicked thoughts start flying. 'you can feel me dying? How? Are you… am I killing you?!' I screamed in my head. He continued to stroke my hair before responding 'I'm not sure. I just know that I am close to losing you… its like I can feel something inside me dying, Hayato. Life bonding mates die as one most of the time, and I'm hopeful that is true.' I felt tears begin to fall again and focused on my breathing. We would have continued to speak, but Takeshi was not silent for long. " Can he hear me?" he asked, and Kyouya responded "Yes, he can." It was silent another minute before he started speaking. ''Will you tell me what he says to this? Hayato, I want to say this before anything else happens. You know how I'm rain, how I can block things with my ability, right? Well… there's something Tsuna and I haven't told you. Since we met, you have given us both this feeling.. its like your tired. Like your actually way more wrung out than someone your age should be. We've always worried you were sick, so when I learned to control rain flames I made sure to touch you even more than I had before to pump them into your system. If you were sick, we wanted to make sure you stayed with us. We kept hoping you'd tell us you were tired, just once, ya know? We wanted to be your support like you've been ours." He let out a shaky breath before he continued ''When you finally trusted me enough to tell me how you feel-when I found out how tired you were and we got closer, I did my best to make sure I pumped rain flames into you every day for a full year. The feeling we got from you improved after the battle with the immortals, though, so I stopped doing it as often. But, Hayato, we-we've thought you may be sick on and off for ten years.. So, have you ever had this type of illness before? Or anything like it before we met?"

If I could have, I would have gasped in shock. As it was, Kyouya did it for me. "What?" he asked, both as a question and a statement of surprise. ''Yea, we didn't think he'd just tell us, because Hayato hates it when people worry about him. I want to protect him, he's important to me, too, ya know?! So we did it in secret." I thought about him touching me, about feeling like shit before going to Japan, about feeling better on and off… it was when he was around me! I remembered finally waking up the day after I realized I was in love with Kyouya and feeling better for the first time in years… holy shit! I forced myself to speak, I wanted it to be in my own fucking words. Kyouya felt my shock and looked at me again, moving his eyes to mine. ''I.. H-hav-*cough* Rain. W-when we get t-there. I'll t-talk.'' I said, unable to finish the thoughts. 'Why not tell me?' he asked in our minds, I sent resolve and frustration 'I want to speak. I want to tell you both what I remember.' He sighed ''He says he wants to tell us both with his own words what he remembers. Apparently, though, there is something to what you just said.'' Takeshi looked at me via the rearview mirror and then nodded. ''Got it.'' Was all he said before we fell back to a fearful silence.

:

:

When the car finally stopped Takeshi helped Kyouya get me out of the car, and then picked the lock for the cabin. I had been feeling stronger since leaving Shibuya, but decided to conserve my strength before speaking out loud. We entered the cabin and found a bedroom upstairs, where Kyouya laid me down. They both looked at each other before Kyouya kissed the top of my head and told me he needed to step out for a minute. Takeshi took my hand while calling Kojiro and Jiro, who made nests around me instantly. That and the strength I had from Kyouya's touch gave me enough energy to speak. "Come back soon. Please.'' His eyes widened a little, then he nodded and walked away quickly. " Hayato, can you talk easier now?'' Takeshi asked once we were alone. ''Yes, between storing my energy from Kyouya's touch and your rain flames I'm able to feel a little stronger. Fuck, this is pathetic. I've got two of the people most important to me crying and the third had to leave his HONEYMOON early because I'm not fucking strong enough. This sucks!" I growled, causing Takeshi to laugh at me ''Its good to hear your fire, Hayato! Ha-ha!" I rolled my eyes and then looked up at the ceiling. Jiro barked once, and I moved my free hand to pet him. ''I miss Uri.'' I grumbled. She hated being in her box, she never was unless I had to travel with someone else-other than Takeshi, of course. Because I needed to save strength I couldn't see her now, either.

"You'll see her soon, Hayato.'' He said and I sighed. "Ya know… if I don't make it-and I'm only saying 'if' ok? Will you be there for him? He's stronger than almost anyone, but he has a strong sense of loyalty and needs to take care of people even if he normally is an ass about it. If he loses me.. I'm more afraid of what he will do to himself than for my own life. It sounds fucking corny as hell- but I just need to hear it.'' He held my eyes with a look at screamed 'this hurts' before he nodded. ''I'm sure your going to be ok! But, of course I will take care of him. I mean, it is The Hibari Kyouya, ya know? I'd like to say he wouldn't take my help, but seeing him like that… Honestly, I don't know what's more painful to watch, you or him.'' I smirked ''I know, right? Great start to the rest of our lives, don't cha think?" Takeshi and I both laughed at the dark humor as Kyouya walked back into the room. I smiled at him as he climbed onto the bed and sat next to me, putting one hand on my shoulder and the other on Jiro's head. The dog barked happily and thumped his tail before curling back into my side again.

He sent Takeshi a grateful look, relief finally beginning to replace the agony. ''Thank you.'' Was all he said before turning to look at me again and Takeshi's mouth hung open in shock. "ha! Kyouya- your going to give him a heart attack. '' he smirked, intense love hitting me as my talking seemed to help him feel a little calmer. "What can I say? Not all of us can be this intimidating, it's an art, Hayato. You should all be grateful for my presence.'' I and Takeshi laughed before I replied ''Grateful for your biting people to death or grateful for your anti-social personality? People think I'm bad!" I heckled as amusement danced between us. " and you are, lets face it. There have never been two more anti-social bastards in one pairing.'' Takeshi nodded and I flipped him off. The moment lasted a few more minutes before Takeshi cleared his throat.

''I would rather not be a downer, but can you answer my question from earlier?'' I sighed, hoping they'd have forgotten. ''Yes, to answer your question. I got sick in Italy right before coming to Japan and was sick on and off for years. Once I realized I was in love with Kyouya, it lessened and it wasn't so noticeable anymore. Not until now, anyway. Its never even gotten close to being this bad before. Typically, its just pain and feeling tired all the time." Kyouya sent guilt through our bond and I knew where he was going, it was the same conclusion I found myself staring in the face the second that I realized what happened along that timeline. ''I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry, Hayato.'' He said and I put my hand on his face ''you didn't know they'd do this'' was all I could say, because it was his fault, and all of his feelings from the car came back in spades, only there was also intense guilt and anger. ''What? Then… what happened? Why are you apologizing?" Takeshi asked.

"I… I began taking breaking pills- they are a powerful medication, one that helps to stop connections with one's soulmate. I had been afraid that my mate would be weak and get me killed, and I didn't want to be weak. So I found out how to lessen the bond with medications that are only sold on the black market… I kept taking them when we met because we didn't say our words and I was so fucking in love with him.. but, when I started taking them.. it was about six months before Hayato came to Japan..'' Takeshi absorbed that for a few minutes as the room became explosive, charged with so much anger and powerful blood lust that I thought he may actually kill Kyouya. ''How fucking DARE YOU! I don't care if you feared you'd be weak, its your soulmate! And now? Now look! Hayato was someone you fell in love with, right? I knew you took those things, but I still don't understand why you didn't stop the minute you saw him! What have you done!?" he yelled, both of his box animals began to shake. His flames intensified to an alarming extent, and my head swam. Kyouya didn't say anything or move an inch. He just sat there feeling like the worst man on the planet. "STOP!" I yelled, causing Takeshi's flames to return to normal.

"Your scaring your own animals, idiot. Also, you don't get to tell me or him that. I'm not happy, but I get it. He stopped taking them the second we thought we may be mates, and he has only been taking them so long because we'd not said our words and he didn't know I was his! He wanted to destroy his bond to be with me, you cant fault him for it. Even if he was being an idiotic bastard." Kyouya didn't say anything, he was trying to hold himself together, so many emotions cycled through us that I couldn't tell them apart. " Please, Takeshi. He already feels like shit, I don't want to blame anyone, anyway. I'd rather figure out how those pills did this… there has to be something in them that was able to affect me, or maybe it was made here and the proximity to the source lead to this? Maybe it's a type of poison or something…?" I said, praying he would calm down and help me. Kyouya's horror and grief, pain, soul-crushing self-hate, and the deep sadness was enough to make me cry, and I couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I hate crying'' I said as they both watched me in surprise. I don't think I've cried in such agony for years.

''Hayato.. Im sorry, I shouldn't have been so angry just now. I cant forgive him, and I want to kill him, but I wont do anything until I know you are ok.'' Takeshi said in a quiet voice with barely controlled rage. I nodded, because I couldn't think of anything better to say. Kyouya put his hand on my cheek. ''Hayato… I cant even say how sorry I am'' I closed my eyes ''I know. I can feel what you are feeling, after all.'' How could this have happened? What the hell were those things? I was emotionally and psychically exhausted, and while I did have my strength back to a certain degree, I realized I needed to sleep sometime soon. ''I-I don't want to, but I think I need some rest. Will the two of you stay?" I asked while keeping my eyes closed, somehow I couldn't keep myself from asking. "Of course. " Kyouya whispered and then the bed shifted and his arm wrapped around me. ''I wont move until you wake up.'' I smirked ''you better not, fucker'' I said as I opened my eyes enough to see Jiro laying on my legs and Kojiro flutter onto my stomach. Takeshi glared at Kyouya's arm around me in clear distain, but he didn't comment, instead he looked back to me and let go of my hand. ''One second.'' He said while standing and leaving the room. I felt instant concern and Kyouya put his other hand against my head, gently running his fingers through my hair and sending me the most calming and loving vibes he could. "I love you. I love you so much, Gokudera Hayato.'' He whispered and I smiled '' I love you too, you fucking fucker.'' He softly kissed me, just a gentle brushing of our lips, before laying his head on the pillow beside mine.

I heard Takeshi come back in a few minutes later, he was carrying a huge pile of blankets and the pillows from another bedroom. I watched as he made himself a very comfortable looking bed and then locked the bedroom door, dimming the light until just his box animal's flames were visible. ''I want Uri. Think I have enough in me to summon her? " I said to no one in particular. ''Hayato.. that isn't a good idea. You said it before right?" I sighed ''I know, but will you give me my box anyway, please?" Takeshi sighed and handed her box to me, and I was able to muster enough flames to call for her. For once, the she-cat just looked at me, squeezed her way under the blankets and curled up in the crook of my arm. I sighed and ran my fingers through her fur and she began to purr. "We will be right here, Hayato. So get some sleep, alright?" Takeshi said as he leaned back on his bed and put a hand to my leg beside Jiro. ''Ok. Thanks'' I passed out quickly while surrounded in warmth.

HIBARI POV

I held Hayato for hours, feeling so much regret and rage and desperate need to protect him that I could barely hold myself together. He wasn't dead, and I detest crying. Yamamoto has already seen me cry once, ideally he will never need to again. Hayato moves when he sleeps, he moves to wherever is warmest, and curls around it. He's in this crescent moon shape right now with his back pressing against me and his arms are wrapped tightly around Uri and Jiro, who were both laying beside him and seemed more than happy to accommodate.

I spent hours watching him, Yamamoto was clearly doing the same, but neither of us spoke. I could feel the killing intent seeping through his pores, he wanted to gut me and see if that solved the issue, but cared too much about Hayato to do so. I had thought he wasn't going to speak to me at all, when the silence was interrupted by a quiet whisper. ''Would you tell me why? Why you took them? Is what you told Hayato true?'' I focused on Hayatos breathing while I replied ''I was-and I am, telling you both the truth. I did it because I feared becoming weak, and then I kept taking them because I wanted Hayato and didn't think he was mine. I wanted to kill the bond I had to be with him, I was so desperate to be with him that it was painful, and everyday I took those fucking pills praying that… anyway, I do not expect you to believe me, of course. I surely would not."

He looked at me, his eyes glowing in the darkness as he peered through the animal's flames ''I do, because I know you watch him, every second you can get. At school, on missions, in meetings-anywhere, I noticed it the second you met him in middle school. But I didn't tell him that, I didn't tell him because I didn't think there was any way for the two of you to be mates. When he told me he loved you, I was tempted to tell him about your obsessive habit, but I got a feeling it wasn't mine to tell. I regret that, now. There I was waiting for him to turn thirty, for him to get his courage to confess to you or let those feelings go and love someone else, to choose me over an anti-social bastard like you. I was even willing to settle for best friend as long as he was near me every day- but then I found out you two are mates, and I wanted to be happy for him. But I hate you. I fucking hate that he loves you, that you chose him, that your mates. I hate the fact that you're the one holding him, and I hate-more than anything in this world, that he is dying because of you. I honestly hate you with everything I am. And you know the worst part? When Hayato could speak again, all he did was ask me about you- he told me to take care of you, and I will keep that promise, because I love him, too. Its also how I can see your love for him in your every action, in the tears and how you have always looked at him. As someone who loves him, I notice.'' When he finished I let that information settle in. It was bold of him, and my instincts screamed to kill him to keep Hayato beside me. However, my logic won out. Hayato needed protectors, I am more than enough, but having another person around him to care for him is not a bad thing. If something has to happen to me in order to save him, Hayato would not be left alone.

I met his eyes before speaking. '' As his mate, I want to kill you, I want to rip you apart. But as a fellow man, I admire your loyalty despite your hopeless situation. That is why… Would you do me a favor?'' I asked, causing his eyes to widen. ''Your not going to kill me.. and you want me to help you?" I nodded before speaking again, running my fingers through Hayato's hair as I did so. "Kill me. If we find out that we cant reverse the effect of the pills, if he is about to die and I seem perfectly fine then that means we wont be dying together. At that time it would be safe to kill me and if the pills caused this then removing me from the picture might save him. So do it, if those pills don't leave my system. Kill me to save him. Screw Sawada, Reborn and anyone else. His life is most important. Do you think you can do that, Yamamoto Takeshi?" He stared at me for a long time before looking at Hayato and in a very brazen move, reached out and put his hand on Hayato's heart. ''He will hate me and you, but his life will always be most important to me, too. I'll kill you if it comes down to it, Hibari. But I wont like doing it, despite everything.. He will lose you-his soulmate. And honestly? To Hayato, I'm not sure which would be worse, death or being left behind.'' I kept my eyes trained on his hand for several minutes, absorbing those words. Should I tell him? Those feelings Hayato alluded to earlier? The ones that he tried and failed to hide from me? His love for me, of course, wins out. But he also… If Takeshi may end up killing me, he should know. I took a deep breath before making up my mind.

"We are life-bonded, so we feel each others emotions as though we can read minds. That is why-as much as it pains me to admit this, if I had not chosen him, he would have turned to you. The reason I cant make myself kill you or attack you-or even feel jealous for more than a few minutes, is because he has chosen me, loved me more than anyone even before our bond completed. But he also loves you, and he let me know it the second he felt relief and calm when he saw you, when he told me about the time you killed those men and that night... he made it clear I was never to kill you. He even made me promise him to care for you if he ever died and left us alone.'' I watched as the mans' killing intent disappeared and he bit into his lip. Watched in mild disgust and discomfort (well even MORE discomfort, as I hated these types of talks) as he hid his face and cried.

''Thank you.'' Was all he said before the room was silent again. Eventually I was able to fall asleep, Hayato in my arms the entire time.

:

:

Takeshi and I didn't say anything else until morning came and his cell phone rang. "Its Tsuna'' he said before taking the call. ''Yo, Tsuna. What's up?" he asked as he nodded at me and stood up to leave the room, not wanting to wake Hayato up. I ran my fingers through his hair, keeping an even pace and inhaling his sent. I could feel that he was having a pleasant dream, his emotions were calm and seemed happy, content. Whatever he was seeing was my new favorite thing, as long as it made him happy and he wasn't in any pain. I could feel some of his fatigue leaving him, finally. His energy was restoring itself and whenever Uri and Jiro moved closer to him that energy increased. I could hear the door shut again and Takeshi's foot steps, then the sinking of the bed. I opened my eyes again to look at him. He was staring at Hayato, and my instinct to fight to protect him increased. Its his best friend, its someone who would protect him if I couldn't, its someone who loves him, too. He wont take him away, I don't need to fight. I repeated this to myself over and over, allowing him to sit beside Hayato before clearing his throat.

''Tsuna's on his way. He arrived in Shibuya and met up with the other dons and Senpai. He said he thinks he understands what is happening, and that they figured something out about those pills you've been taking. He will be bringing something for you to drink to get them out of your system. He thinks that once they are out of your system Hayato may improve slightly. They also think that Vick is the one who has been selling those pills for years, and that he may have some connection between Hayato's sickness and the pills affecting you. He said there was more, but he didn't want to say anything over the phone." I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. Pain and guilt and intense need to protect, to kill, to save him hit me in waves.

"I really did do this, then. Takeshi-" He met my eyes and glared at me ''No. Don't you dare say It, I already promised you… but its not time yet, Hayato may be fine after we kill Vick and take care of those pills. He seems to be feeling stronger, anyway.'' He said, looking back at Hayato.

"I get it" I said as I closed my eyes again, continuing to run my fingers through his hair. "I think I should get him something to eat, don't you?" He asked, standing up and stretching. "Yea, we should. Should I be the one..?" He shook his head ''Nope, don't worry! I've got it. He'd want to see you first, ya know? Tsuna will be here in a few hours, and it shouldn't take me too long to get back. I'll leave Jiro here, and take Kojiro. That would keep him supplied with rain flames until I get back." I would have protested, but his tone said that he would be the one to leave no matter what I said. I nodded ''Lock the door to this room, too, please" He widened his eyes ''Of course. Its weird to hear you say please, Hibari.'' Then he turned and left. Locking the door as he went.

:

I felt it before he spoke, Hayato's emotions changed from his sleeping calm to a full wakefulness, calmness, confusion, love and frustration touched me as I continued to stroke his hair. The fact that hate and anger had yet to make an appearance was something I would forever be grateful for. Soulmates didn't just get free passes for everything, we could denounce a mate if we chose, though few ever do. The thought of him doing so nearly caused me to sob, which of course made me angry because I hate crying and have had to process far too many emotions for my liking recently. Hayato spoke quietly, reaching out to pet Uri and Jiro. ''Good morning, Kyouya. You know, just the love and protectiveness would have been enough, I don't blame you-well, not enough to do anything to you, so stop feeling so sad already. Its creepy.'' I snorted ''Oh? Are you afraid I may lose it, Sir Chicken shit?" I teased, unable to stop myself from using my new favorite nickname for him. He sent amused annoyance my way before responding ''Fucking Fucker! You know what I mean, you're the king of no emotions, and now that I'm a little sick your going to get all weepy.'' I rolled my eyes ''Who is weepy, exactly? I may have cried when I thought my mate was dying, but that hardly counts as weepy.'' He sighed "The emotions are weepy, asshole!"

"I know. I have never had to deal with such emotion until now, its infuriating, but the situation calls for it.'' I responded, which caused him to sigh again. "I love you, you fucking fucker. I wont denounce you.'' He said it like a promise, and my eyes widened ''Hayato can you…?" He nodded and turned around in my arms. ''Since the car, I can hear your thoughts if they are strong enough even when your not sending them to me. Right now, your emotions make them impossible to ignore.''

I felt the color leave my face as his expression darkened. ''How dare you ask him to kill you. Do you know how hard it would be on him? On ME? I wake up and find my mate died for me-do you think I would want to live anymore than you would? Life-bonded means for life, forever, we are connected even in the next life. That is what it means, you bastard! How dare you take the easy way out and die?" He raised his voice-just short of screaming, and then sat up. I grabbed onto him ''I'm sorry." He pushed my hand away and stood up. ''Please don't push yourself-"

"I need the bathroom. Besides, I hate seeing you so weak. I need you to be strong for me, I need to rely on your normal power and control. I need that, you idiot." And then he unlocked the door and left the room. Jiro and Uri instantly made upset noises and rushed after him. I laid there for a moment before standing and following him as well. He was in the bathroom, and I could splashes. I gently opened the door and saw him lounging in the tub, Jiro getting drenched beside him as he was not willing to leave him for a moment. Thank god for this dog's loyalty. Uri sat beside the tub and ran up to me, jumping onto my shoulder. "Hayato, you alright?" I asked after a moment and he met my eyes. ''I'm fine. I feel some of your stubbornness coming back to you, finally. Its refreshing.'' I smiled ''If you need me to, I get this odd strength to do what you ask.'' He leaned over the tub.

"Wash me." I smiled and locked the door before removing my shirt and walking over to him. He gently pushed Jiro out of the tub and the dog settled against the side, turning his back to us. ''He is a great dog, isn't he? If I didn't love Uri so much I'd steal him.'' He said while I grabbed the soap. ''I'd be inclined to agree. We could always get a standard dog, it may be trainable.'' He snorted ''Well, we cant have kids, so fur children would be our future, I guess!" I let out a breath. ''It will be, wont it?" he smiled at me. "That's right. It will. So you better be strong for me.'' He said as I began to wash his back. "I get it. I will do my best not to become so overwhelmed again, but I would like to remind you that of the two of us, I am the dominate, meaning everything shifted inside me to make way for my 'protect' role, and my emotions are now directly tied to your wellbeing.'' He smirked ''Huh, that's true. I didn't realize that, but I guess you would be in the more 'dominate' role here, though you have no control over me. To be clear.'' I snorted ''When have I ever had control over anything you do? Other than in bed, of course'' he smiled and splashed me. " you're an ass, but that's true.''

I finished washing his back and then settled against the tub, keeping my fingers in his hair. "I love that, ya know?" he commented while closing his eyes. "I know, that is why I always do it." "Cocky fucker.'' He said in an amused tone. "You know it." I heard my phone ring from the other room and stood, leaving him long enough to get it on the last ring. ''Hello?"

"Hibari? Is Hayato awake?" Takeshi asked ''Yes, he is in the bath. His energy has improved, as well. Jiro is with him.'' He let out a relieved breath ''Thank god! I got us all breakfast, and met up with Tsuna. We are on our way back now. Should be there in about ten minutes.'' "Understood. I have not informed Hayato of the situation with the pills yet, he gave me a ration of shit because he could tell I had thought of… well, you know. So I did not get the chance.''

"Oh? Well, Tsuna can explain it. He'd probably take it better, anyway.'' "True."

When I ended the call I walked back to the bathroom and let Hayato know he needed to get out of the bath. I helped him dry off and he got dressed just as we heard the car pull up. Hayato insisted on at least sitting up, so they came into the Livingroom to find me helping him get comfortable in a makeshift pillow fortress. He looked up when they entered and Sawada came running over to us, throwing his arms around Hayato in relief. ''I'm so glad your doing better, Hayato! Are you ok?" he asked and Hayato nodded. ''I'm still tired but it's less than it has been since I entered Shibuya. Kyouya wont let me do anything, though! He's been hovering on me since I woke up. He even made me use these pillows to prop myself up.'' He said, complaining, though humor laced his tone.

I smirked ''Of course, you die falling from a sofa and I'm putting 'death by couch' on the tomb stone.'' He and Takeshi both laughed at that, Takeshi was beginning to get used to my sarcasm, it seemed. "Fuck you-you fucking fucker. Like I would die from that! Your lucky this is so comfortable.'' Sawada smiled at us while we continued talking, falling into the routine we had long ago established of egging the other on. He let this go on until Hayato's stomach began to growl. "Takeshi bought us food- its your favorite! I… also have to update you on the situation, Hayato.'' He said, seeming reluctant to tell him. I felt dread and tried to force the feeling back, Hayato needed me to be stronger than this. His emotions come first.

"Kyouya?" he asked, and I gestured to Sawada. "Actually, Hayato… You see, We know what caused your symptoms. When I met up with the other dons we were able to do some digging along with Fran's help. It turns out that Vick is the one who makes and distributes the breaking pills and suppressants that are then sold across the country. He's the only one on the black market. We also noticed that his strength increased a lot in the last few years, more than should be possible.. Mukuro reported in just as we found this out, and he had one of Vicks men with him. He was able to capture him while he fought Vick, though Vick escaped.. Still, we were able to get information from the other man, and it turns out that Vick made those pills not to break connections 'peacefully' as he advertised, but rather to extract the power of soulmates. It only works if the dominate mate takes them.. '' He glanced at me before continuing ''When the dominate mate takes the pills the other will get weaker, the pills will not impact the dominate at all. Often, it makes them think that they are not working at all. When in reality the pills are using the soul-connection to steal the life-energy from the submissive mate. M-most soulmates don't last long, the man said that he'd never heard of anyone lasting longer than a year until you two showed up.. he said that you were probably the strongest soulmates Vick ever encountered. Vick had only talked about you a few times, commenting that he gets more power from 'the two who've last ten years' than anyone.. we believe he is killing soulmates using this method and absorbing their energy.'' I had to grip the couch, and Hayato let out a shocked sound. His emotions hit me in waves, and I could not control my own. I bit my lip, forcing myself to focus. Hayato's pain, fear and outright rage was enough to send me into a spiral of protective instincts and agony, and only knowing that he needed me to be reasonable kept me from losing myself.

"What do you think will happen when we kill him, Tenth?" Hayato asked into the silence with more resolve than I thought possible. "I don't know. I believe that the pills are what keep Vick tied to the soulmates, so if Hibari-san isn't taking them Vick shouldn't be able to control your energy. I think that, if we kill him, you should get your energy back completely." He nodded. I didn't dare speak or move while I forced myself to stop feeling those pesky emotions I so despise and focus on Hayatos instead. I just stood behind him as quietly as I could. Takeshi put a hand on my shoulder in a surprisingly friendly gesture before speaking ''Then, you believe there is a way to save him?" he asked and Sawada nodded. ''Yes. I believe this will save him. I don't think Vick can take any more energy from him now, so he shouldn't get worse, at least. Oh! Hibari-san, I have a drink that should help you get those pills out of your system completely, will you drink it?" I let go of the couch and walked over to him before holding out my hand. ''You need to ask? Give it to me.'' He nodded and handed it over. ''How long will it take?" I asked as I opened it and downed the thing in one go. "About six hours, max. According to James, at least.. Oh, and he said you might want to be near a bathroom by then.'' I nodded "lovely.'' I commented as I wiped my mouth. _The drink is disgusting_.

"Kyouya, when I get better you will make this up to me. I am going to punch you-or maybe I will let Takeshi do it. He's more likely to not hold back. Then your buying me any house I want, your going to go to any event I want you to go to and your going to do any gross job that needs doing. Oh, and your taking me to Italy for our honeymoon, and your not going to complain about being away from Namimori even once, you understand?" I nodded "I can do that.'' Takeshi put a hand on Hayatos shoulder "I'm fine hitting him, but I think Senpai would be the best fit, Hayato. He could break more than one bone, unless I can hit him more than once?" I grimaced at the thought. I would let them get away with it, just this once, because Hayato deserved to do whatever he wanted to punish me, but the idea of letting them injure me hurt my pride.

''No, I'd have to feel a broken rib if that happened, besides, Kyouy's pride is more likely to be wounded if you do it, Takeshi.'' I sighed before Sawada started speaking. ''Hayato, you have a right to be angry, but beating him up wont change this… and I also think that letting someone else do it may feel less satisfying.'' I blanched, Sawada was actually in favor? Well, not that I can blame him, really. He is Hayato's best friend, its natural.

'Don't take it so seriously, you fucker' Hayato said, speaking to me silently. 'Oh? I deserve it, though.' He sent annoyance at me before clearing his throat. "anyway, what's the plan? How can I help?" he asked, causing me to stiffen. ''No. Your not going near him.'' I said firmly, hoping to get him to back down. Of course, it being Hayato, that only made it worse. ''fuck you. I'm ending this!" he said, no longer calm. Sawada stepped in, thankfully. ''No, I agree. You wont be going anywhere. I want you to stay with Hibari and Takeshi until this is over. Leave it to us, Hayato.'' He said, not a question, a statement. He was using his authority here, and I knew Hayato would not refuse him.

"Fine, If you say so, but I still don't like it.'' He said this with frustration, but Sawada just smiled at him and changed the subject, encouraging everyone to eat.

GOKUDERA POV

After we ate Tenth laid out the plan for us. The tenth and the other dons will attack tonight, using Mukuro (the owl) and Chrome. Mukuro, Bel, Marmon, Fran and the rest of the varia will attack, causing Vick to-ideally, flea to a easier to access point of the building. A don will be at each exit, and the tenth will lead them into the building if no one comes out within ten minutes. They will not make contact with us again until it is over, and we are to move to another location further from the area. I had tried to protest but tenth wouldn't hear it. Kyouya was trying to control his anger, self-loathing and protectiveness, which seems to be a donning theme for him lately, the poor fuck. He hated emotion so this whirlwind was almost painful for him. He did not comment during the explanation for this reason, forcing such powerful feelings back took a lot out of him, so he just stood behind me again, his hands rubbing soothing circles into my shoulders.

At least he was trying, though. "Then take care of yourself!" Tenth said from the doorway, waving once before heading out of the cabin to meet with the other dons and the rest of the guardians.

:

:

Takeshi handed us our clothing when he came back inside after exchanging cars with tenth. We would be in tenths' car, and tenth would take Kyouya's. Allowing that was a testament to Kyouya's patience and concern for me because he loved the damn car. We changed as quickly as possible, but it still took more time than I'd have liked.

"Thankfully, Tsuna brought your clothing!'' Takeshi said in an overly forced happy voice while I finished buttoning my shirt. Kyouya had to help me because my hands still shook and it added to their uneasiness. He continued ''so do either of you want to grab anything before we head out? I've got your clothing in a bag cause we're leaving the cases but maybe a blanket?" I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. Kyouya?" I asked when he didn't respond himself. He looked at me and shook his head before grabbing the plastic bags. ''Should we go, if your ready, of course?" he asked and I nodded, not happy to have to leave the cabin or with the way he has been closing himself up since hearing tenth's information.

Takeshi stopped me on the way out just as Kyouya began opening the trunk. ''Are you ok? I mean… physically, your fucked, but…'' I nodded ''I'm fine emotionally. I'm pissed and I'm tired but I love the fucker anyway. Besides, I can feel his emotions and know for a fact that he feels so much worse than I do about this. He hates emotion, and because he is the dominate mate his protective instincts are so fucking strong that he's fighting a losing battle with himself, he can hardly control his emotions since we bonded and with this... I'm just waiting for him to lose it, frankly. I'd like to see this end before that happens, because its fucking creepy for the both of us and he could at least not be around others for it. And, well, because of that there really isn't a point in making him feel worse, ya know?" he measured my response for a minute before slinging an arm around me and laughing ''True, it was creepy seeing him like that. Crying and so scared… I don't know what to think anymore.'' I let out a deep breath and leaned against him a little, which earned me a blush and a fake smile. ''Do you know I can hear his thoughts?" he became still in much the same way as Kyouya had. ''Shit.'' He said, alluding to his realizing where I was going. ''How dare you agree to it? How dare you even think about taking him from me? You know-you know it would kill me, you know that better than even he does.'' I said and he tightened his arm around me ''I know that, even though I know that.. Hayato, I still hate him for this, Hayato. I truly hate it. He loves you, he wanted you enough to kill his bond, but he never once thought to stop those pills, and now.. god, look at you. Your sick, your dying, your flames are weak, you cant stand or button your own shirt half the time-what if it doesn't end with Vick? You know.. you know I would kill for you, I would do anything to save you, anything.'' He said, not backing down, though I hadn't expected him to.

''I'll lose two of the three people I love most in this world." I said pointedly, because using this was my last straw, my final trump card and he made a pained noise ''you could denounce him. You could choose me, you could have someone who never, ever, hurt or betrayed you.'' I shook my head ''you know how much I love him, if I did that… it wouldn't change anything, I'd love him for the rest of my life, I'd end up back beside him again, always, just like he would do so for me, even if I chose you- I could not stand to be without him.'' He sighed and when he spoke again, he sounded calmer than I'd thought he would be ''I know you well enough to know that if you died you would want the two of us to comfort each other, but just like how you cant give him up, I cant forgive him. I'd kill him, Hayato, if you died and he didn't go too, I'd kill him, and I wont lie and say I wouldn't." I sighed, ''at least don't kill him until I'm dead. Can you promise me that?"

He met my eyes for a few seconds and then nodded ''As long as we don't lose you, I wont kill him. I'll try to move on, too, if you make it through this.'' I smiled at him ''thank you. I really do think you deserve more than me, someone who isn't as fucked up.'' He smiled at me, that easy smile that always calmed me down, and he tightened his hold on me for a minute before letting go.

I felt intense anger directed at us and stepped away from him ''Hayato, are you alright?" I looked over to Kyouya ''Yes-fine, we are coming. I'm giving him shit for saying he'd kill you.'' I said, and he made an unhappy face before nodding at me and opening the door to the backseat.

I climbed inside and motioned for him to join me, which he did instantly before I leaned into him and he let out a long breath ''I love you Gokudera Hayato.'' He said into my ear before Takeshi got in. I leaned up and kissed him, not caring about Takeshi's presence as he got in the car. Kyouya responded instantly and Takeshi had to clear his throat ''ummm guys… a little discretion, please!'' he said in annoyance and I snorted but pulled away and then wrapped my arms around Kyouya. He tightened his arms around me, but I felt a sense of momentary pity pass between us directed at Takeshi. 'He ok?' I asked in our thoughts. 'I think so. I just feel guilty doing this in front of him, he's pitiful.' I sent understanding and then love across our bond ' I try not to think about it. I chose you even before we bonded, and I'm still choosing you, so I don't get the right to do that. You don't, either.' He nodded before resting his head on mine. 'I know.'

"Did we really need to leave? I liked it there'' I grumbled as Takeshi began to turn onto the freeway. ''we do. It sucks cause I like it too.'' He said, his eyes still fixed on the road. "We can just go back once this is over, though.'' Kyouya chimed in which made Takeshi and I both laugh. ''Like I want to spend a week with two people who are new mates? Ugh! Need I remind you he's my best friend?'' Kyouya smirked ''Oh? Too bad for you, then. Hayato and I will just have to go alone.'' He rolled his eyes ''or the whole family can go- we can make it a cabin party! I'm sure Mukuro would love it.'' We all snorted in amusement at the thought before falling silent. Jiro and Uri were still out of their boxes and both had found a way to crawl onto me by the time we hit the freeway which caused me to get more relaxed. Takeshi turned on the radio and Kyouya played with my hair while we sped down the highway and farther from Shibuya.

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We drove all night, only stopping for food and the occasional walk for Jiro. I was unable to stop myself from worrying about the tenth the entire night and found myself and Kyouya both tapping our legs in annoyance at our inability to fight beside him. Takeshi remained overly cheerful for most of the drive, until we finally began to near home and snuck into the not yet complete hideout under the mall.

He had gotten out of the car and excused himself to go check on his father, since most of the base wasn't completed, while Kyouya and I got settled. He would return first thing tomorrow, and frankly, I think he needed to have time to make peace with everything.

"How are you feeling now, Hayato?" Kyouya asked as we settled into one of the larger bedrooms. It was only 30% ready for use, but luckily beds had been brought in for some of the rooms, though Takeshi claimed to have forgotten this fact. ''I'm alright, I feel better, actually. My energy is coming back, its like, I'm almost back to what I've always thought was normal.'' He sat beside me and wrapped me in his arms while pushing me down into the bed. I laughed as he gently pulled my chin up to kiss me. He held me in his arms for hours, kissing me and gently running his fingers through my hair. We didn't feel the need to make love, though, my energy wasn't back yet and once we started it would be a while, if something happened during it would be impossible to respond quickly, too. Jiro barked at us, as Takeshi had left him with us while he and Kojiro went to his dad's place. "He wants in the bed, doesn't he?" I asked and Kyouya sighed before patting the bed next to me and Jiro and Uri both jumped up and wrapped around me. "When we get one, its sleeping in its own bed.'' He grumbled and I laughed '' Are you sure about that? They're pretty cozy.'' He sent exasperation across our bond and I laughed as we settled in each others arms, cuddling close together and fell asleep.

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I woke up at 4am when a sudden powerful wave of increased energy hit me and I literally sprang awake. Kyouya was sitting up in seconds looking confused before registering the energy. We both smiled ''He did it, didn't he?" Kyouya asked, cupping my face. I smiled ''yea, shit, I haven't been this energized in years!'' I whispered, nearly crying from the sudden rush of strength. ''I love you so much- god, I cant even tell you have happy I am.'' He said while cupping my face. I smiled at him ''I love you, too, now you better spend the rest of our lives making it up to me.'' he kissed me in reply, love and devotion and powerful relief flowing between us. I pushed Jiro and Uri off the bed while he pushed me down and deepened the kiss. We kissed and touched gently, his hands in my hair, and then he was slowly undressing me and I was helping him out of his and then he slowly licked a trail down my chest before his mouth settled over my member and he licked me from hilt to tip ''ah!'' I moaned, loving the feeling as he ran his tongue over every inch of me, licking and gently nipping my member while I moaned and whimpered above him.

"I love you, gokudera Hayato'' he whispered against my member before taking me into his mouth and I bucked up into the heat ''i-ah-love you too, you fucking fucker.'' he began to bob his head while he sucked and worked a finger inside me, letting me thrust into his mouth while he worked me over with his fingers, coaxing moans from me and making me sob in pleasure, Cumming twice before he pulled away to look at me while lining up with my entrance ''I love you, Hayato.'' He said again while slowly pushing at my entrance ''hurry-hurry, Kyouya.'' I rasped out, already desperately needy and hard despite having cum just minutes before. He smirked at me and then buried himself inside me before moving at an incredibly fast pace, my hips meeting his as my increased energy made me move faster and faster with him, desperately pulling him deeper inside me until he was nearly screaming my name and I'd long since lost my reason, my mind blank with pleasure. He filled me over and over, increasing the fierceness of his movements again and again, sucking my neck or kissing me while he fucked me over and over until I felt my hips going numb ''Hayato, you alright?" he asked and I thrust up to meet him again ''more, more.'' I whispered, a plea for him to move even more. He sent concern along with his desire and I sent him want and need and intense love, focused on the pleasure I was feeling until he was getting larger inside me and moaning my name while he gripped my hips and came again.

This continued for hours, until my legs were numb and his hips were shaking and he pulled out, leaning over me for several minutes. ''Hayato, god your sexy, my cum is practically pouring out.'' He said, both to tease and to complement and I nearly whimpered as his fingers pushed back inside me, slowly spreading me open ''K-kyouya, don't-don't take it.'' I whispered, mortified and yet desperate to keep him inside me. His eyes heated even more and he pulled his fingers out, laid down beside me, and we wrapped our arms around each other. ''I'll fill you more tomorrow, I don't want you getting hurt.'' He whispered while tapping my leg. I sighed but did as I was asked and lifted my leg, wrapping it around him and hiding my face in his neck while his fingers pushed inside me again and I felt his cum flowing out of me. The feeling of fullness I'd been feeling for hours slowly disappeared as he held me open and rubbed his fingers against my sweet spot multiple times, causing me to cum with just his fingers. ''To think your body would cum just from my hand… fuck, do you know how much I want inside you right now?" he asked me after I'd cum for the third time from his fingers. ''inside-inside, please'' I whimpered now, clinging to him and nearly sobbing in pleasure as he increased the pace of his fingers, fucking me with them long after his cum was out, until I was shaking and my hips were moving up to meet his fingers.

''If you can get yourself off without me moving them myself, I'll fill you up again.'' He said, knowing how powerful my need was and how energetic I still was. The need for sex was overwhelming anything else for me at the moment, and so I nodded and moved my hips up and down on his fingers, feeling them rub deeper and deeper and loving it. Soon he had four fingers inside me and I was holding his arm steady and moaning while moving myself on them until I came and I collapsed. He pulled his fingers out and pulled me the rest of the way on top of him. I wasted no time, mounting him as soon as I was on him and sitting down hard, which caused him to grab my hips and moan ''fuck, Hayato. Will you ride me on your own?" he asked, willing to do anything for me, and I started riding him, collapsing on his chest and moving intensely, and then he was gripping my hips and thrusting into me and the bed was squeaking and everything was so good at we came again and again.

We continued to make love through the night, unable to stop making love as the mate bond between us went wild and raged, making us forgot everything but us.

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We woke the next morning to five missed calls from tenth, two from Ryohei and a text-chain in which Takeshi informed the tenth, Reborn-san and Ryohei that he'd run down to find us when tenth couldn't reach us and had, to quote 'heard them getting it on, figured he was fine.' Needless to say, I was furious with him and sent an angry text to him and then an apology to tenth, asking for some alone time and promising to see him soon. Thankfully, his response was simply 'I can understand, trust me.' And a smiley face, so at least there wasn't any judgement from him. Kyouya had been able to distract me from the anger at Takeshi fairly easily, though, and we let ourselves drown in each other for days. Only stopping to change locations, eat, or pass out. We made love like this for three days, nothing existing but us.

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Apparently, though, all good things must end, because today, day four, just as Kyouya and I had finished an intense round of marathon sex, his member buried inside me and we laid tangled in our after glow, Kyouya collapsed on top of me while we kissed when a sudden, shocked sound drew our attention.

Mukuro had materialized in the bedroom and stood in the center of the room with his mouth hanging open in shock. We stared back, mutual shock, horror and Kyouya's intensely powerful fury filled the space for nearly a minute before Mukuro smirked while Kyouya and I were trying to recover from the shock ''Looks like I found myself quite a show, fufu. Shall we all play?" Disgust filled me and Kyouya's ring was lighting up in seconds, rolls suddenly materialized and formed a barrier around me to shield me from his eyes. ''I wont bite you to death- I will kill you for this!" he growled and Mukuro laughed in glee ''oya? Shall we have a duel, then? Luckily for you I have my Chrome, so I will wait in the next room '' before he disappeared and Kyouya gently pulled out while pulling a blanket over me and then yanking on boxers before the roll wall opened enough to let him pass. I thanked every god I knew for the energy boost I'd had since Vicks death as I sat up in only slight discomfort. I could sense Kyouyas fury, intense protectiveness, and humiliation and sent my thoughts to him, asking if Mukuro was still around. 'no, the bastard got away for now.' He'd said 'I cant get out of the roll wall, so come bring me clothing. Walking around in your underwear wont do any good, either.' I said when he didn't return ten minutes later.

He was still seething, but protectiveness and a strong sense of concern hit me before he sent understanding across our bond and appeared a few minutes later, the rolls slowly vanishing for him. He held my clothing and sat beside me while the roll wall once again took shape around us. ''no illusions can enter this, so your safe in here. Get dressed and lets go, I need to kill him.'' He said, trying to be gentle despite the fury raging inside him. I nodded, not saying anything as mortification, shame and intense embarrassment rocked through me. '' anger should replace shame, your with your mate-he is the one who should feel shame.'' I smiled at him ''thank you, I know that, but I cant believe he… god, had he come just a few minutes sooner..'' I felt his anger increase and stood to get dressed ''true, it would have been even worse, but he will still not get away with this.'' I nodded as I wiped myself up-he had brought me a wet towel, too, and got dressed. When the roll wall dispersed he stood and started to leave the room again, pulling out his phone and nearly screaming at poor Kasakube

''Tetsu, get to the base now and take Hayato to Sawada. Have the committee locate Mukuro by tonight or they will be punished!" I sent him a chiding feeling, but he'd brushed it off and continued to rage while we walked to the entrance of the hideout. He kissed me gently and then Uri sat on my shoulder while I pulled my cell out and called Takeshi "He's closer and is more likely to help us kill him.'' I said and Kyouya-who was so pissed I'm surprised his head was not on fire, just nodded at me. The tiny speck of relief he'd felt when I mentioned Takeshi told me he still felt that having him near me was a good thing, thankfully. Takeshi picked up on the second ring ''Finally! I thought I'd never-" I cut him off as Kyouya paced, impatience and anger coursing through us both. ''Takeshi. We need you to help us find Mukuro. The bastard… he saw us.'' His voice went from friendly to 'I'll actually cut you.' In ten seconds ''oh hell no. I'm on my way. Base right? Jiro's wanted to see you anyway.'' And then he hung up.

When he got to the base he was panting and out of breath ''Car wasn't fast enough. Where is he?" he asked and Kyouya couldn't even form the words through his rage to explain anything, just sent me love and devotion, nodded at Takeshi, and then ran down the block to begin searching the area. Takeshi had stayed with me, trying to distract me, make jokes, cook.. still, I couldn't help feeling mortified. He put a hand on my shoulder ''your going to see that this isn't the worst thing! Hayato, if anything, he was probably the one more shocked!" he had said, laughing in his stupid way and somehow it made me feel better, less shameful ''besides, you were with your mate, Hayato, so that isn't anything shameful in it!" It felt reassuring to hear from him, and I had been able to calm down by the time Kyouya appeared at Tenths place, where he had launched into tenth because he 'couldn't control one guardian?' and that, of course, did not go over well with me, so then we spent two days arguing over it for no reason, and in the end, Kyouya never found him. Tenth and I had had to talk him into backing down for now, because he was likely going to run himself into the ground and I had made my peace with it. Thankfully, he listened, but rage still burned under the carefully controlled emotions. He would find a way to get him for this, I just hoped it wouldn't cause tenth any trouble.

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Two months later:

I fidgeted nervously in the shed-turned-dressing room of the Namimori Gardens. Tenth, my sister and Takeshi were all fussing over me, telling me I looked good in my white suite, that Kyouya was ecstatic (which was true, I could feel it) to marry me and make the bond official in the eyes of the world, and other calming, nice things you tell someone who is marrying their soulmate and was also hyperventilating at the thought of it. Despite the fact that we had been bonded for two months, intense unease coursed through me. I was able to keep most emotions from Kyouya, thankfully, but the self-doubt was crippling right now. We were given a choice at the alter to denounce-it was required, always has been, and even though I knew he wouldn't, the slight fear caused through me all the same. When it was time to talk out of the shed and down the rose lined trail leading to the alter and our closest friends and family, I forced myself to be calm and smiled.

The second I saw him, standing there in a matching which suite (only his tie was a different color) and his face was so full of love and awe that people stared throughout the ceremony, and pride and possessiveness took hold of me as he kissed me once we'd said 'I do' and suddenly everything was wonderful, perfect, right.

OK! I did it! Its done! (for now) I might do a honeymoon spin off at some point, but for now, please let me know what you all thought!

(I will most likely post a spin off soon- added at a fourth chapter!)

Thank you for reading!

-SYC


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